Promising drugs for rheumatoid arthritis unveiled by Pfizer, Genentech

Promising drugs for rheumatoid arthritis unveiled by Pfizer, Genentech

Pfizer Inc. and Genentech Inc. announced this weekend that their respective drugs have produced satisfactory results to treat symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

The companies said that treatment objectives were met by the promising drug in the clinical trials conducted.

Tasocitinib, otherwise known as CP-690 550, relieved signs and symptoms of moderate and severe cases of rheumatoid arthritis over three months and the difference was statistically significant, according to New York-based Pfizer.

But it did not show a marked difference compared to a placebo when measuring remissions of active rheumatoid arthritis cases.

A separate study spread over 24 months showed that the drug was effective either as a stand-alone medication or given in conjunction with methotrexate, the drugmaker said.

Genentech on the other hand reported that Actemra, its immunosuppressive drug also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, relieved symptoms in patients as quickly as one week after the start of treatment and continuous relief was demonstrated for four weeks. The firm said that their latest trial reflected the same benefits shown in past late-stage studies that showed evidence of symptom relief over the course of two years.

One of those studies demonstrated that 85 percent of kids with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis reported a 30 percent reduction of symptoms compared to 24 percent who had a placebo.

Genentech and Pfizer are to make the results of their clinical trials available to physicians and industry officials at the yearly conference of the American College of Rheumatology to be held this week in Atlanta, Georgia.

Posted by George Daniels on Tuesday November 09 2010, 5:58 AM EST. Ref: Business Week. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0