Novartis’ secukinumab shows efficacy in treatment of ankylosing spondylitis

Novartis has announced results from a pair of clinical trials showing how its drug secukinumab, also known as AIN457, can benefit patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

According to results from the MEASURE 1 and MEASURE 2 trials, more than 60 percent of patients receiving secukinumab 150 mg achieved significant improvements in ankylosing spondylitis symptoms as early as the first week and sustained through one year of treatment.

Secukinumab is the first selective IL-17A inhibitor to significantly improve signs and symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis compared to placebo in phase III studies, as well as being the first non-anti-TNF therapy to demonstrate efficacy in this patient group.

Currently, up to 40 percent of ankylosing spondylitis patients shown an inadequate or non-existent response to standard of care anti-TNF medicines, meaning there is a strong demand for new options.

Vasant Narasimhan, global head of development at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, said: "This groundbreaking data is expected to form the basis of joint regulatory submissions planned for 2015, which also includes results from the FUTURE 1 and FUTURE 2 psoriatic arthritis studies."

Secukinumab has also previously demonstrated its effectiveness in the treatment of psoriasis in clinical trial data published in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year.