On Aug. 2, 2018, hundreds of patients and their families, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff, industry leaders, and researchers convened in Washington, D.C. to participate in the externally-ledﾠJuvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) Patient-Focused Drug Development meeting. The meeting served as a kickoff event to the 4-day Arthritis Foundation JA Conference East. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common type of juvenile arthritis (JA). In many children, it’s a life-long illness with a high risk of disease and treatment-related morbidity. There is no cure, and treatments for children are limited.

This meeting, which is part of our strategy to help find a cure for this serious disease, provided an opportunity for patients, patient advocates, and caretakers to talk about the symptoms and issues that matter most to them. JIA parents and their families shared information about the impact of JIA on daily life, the symptoms that are most challenging, experiences with currently available treatments and the need for new and different treatments.

JIA patients and their families were invited to attend in-person and via a live webcast. They shared their experiences by responding to a live poll and discussion questions. Three patients and nine parent panelists told stories about how JIA impacts their daily lives and discussed the wide range of treatments they have tried.

All of the parents described how JIA has changed not only their children’s lives, but the lives of their entire families. Most have become strong advocates for research and finding cures for JA. Their key message is that many families are out of treatment options and are desperate for more therapies.