Shire reveals results of velaglucerase alfa phase III study

Shire has announced the completion of a new drugs application for velaglucerase alfa, for use in the treatment of type 1 Gaucher disease and has also unveiled the results of two phase III new studies surrounding the therapy.

The velaglucerase alfa trials encompassed 100 patients at 24 sites in ten countries and all reached their primary endpoints successfully. The results show that the treatment was generally well-accepted in both the treatment of naive and previously medicated Gaucher patients.

Doctor Christine Eng, professor of molecular and human genetics at the Baylor College of Medicine, stated: “The inclusion of children, who are often the sickest patients, is especially useful. I believe velaglucerase alfa will be an important new treatment option for type 1 Gaucher disease.”

Last month, Shire entered into an agreement with Santaris that will see the companies collaborate on the development of the former’s proprietary Locked Nucleic Acid technology in a variety of rare conditions.

Source: http://www.shire.com/shire/NewsAndMedia/PressReleases/showShirePress.jsp?ref=1041&tn=3&m1=8&m2=13