ALK Abello reports positive allergic asthma therapy trial data

ALK Abello has announced positive data from a new phase III trial of its developmental allergy immunotherapy tablet for the treatment of house dust mite-induced respiratory diseases.

The Mitra study was the second of two pivotal phase III trials of the drug and demonstrated that the treatment can significantly reduce patients' risks of moderate to severe asthma exacerbations.

This comes after the firm reported data from the Merit trial last month, which showed that the treatment can also reduce symptoms and medication use.

House dust mites are the most common cause of allergic respiratory diseases in the world, affecting around 90 million people in Europe, North America and Japan and over 100 million people in China.

The positive findings from these studies keep ALK Abello on course to file for European approval of the drug in 2014.

Jens Bager, chief executive officer of ALK Abello, said: "These results represent a major step forward in developing the first clinically-documented allergy immunotherapy tablet for patients severely impacted by house dust mite-induced respiratory diseases experiencing poor control of their condition."