Roche’s MabThera ‘inhibits arthritis joint damage’

Roche has said that MabThera, its immunosuppressant, is the first drug to inhibit joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to currently available treatments.

MabThera, which targets type-B blood cells, has been shown to “significantly inhibit” the structural damage caused to joints. The study was conducted in patients where TNF inhibitors had not been successful, showed that patients who had taken MabThera and methotrexate (MTX) had 50 per cent reduced joint damage after 56 weeks in comparison to patients who had used MTX alone.

Additionally, Roche found that in patients who had repeated the treatment course of MabThera six to 12 months after the first course, continued improvements were demonstrated. Remission in these patients doubled from six per cent to 13 per cent after a second course. The drug has been recommended for approval by the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

Professor Keystone of the rheumatology department, University of Toronto, remarked: “This is the first evidence demonstrating that MabThera can inhibit structural joint damage in patients with an inadequate response to one or more TNF inhibitors.

“Preventing structural damage is a critical outcome in treating rheumatoid arthritis.”

“These X-ray data confirm MabThera as an effective and innovative therapy for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and highlight the value of targeting B cells,” he concluded.

Arthritis Care, a UK charity, estimates that one in five Britons live with arthritis, while there are 27,000 people with the condition who are under the age of 25. The charity said that one in five GP visits involve symptoms associated with arthritis.

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