Bristol Myers Squibb announces positive Orencia results

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced that the reintroduction of Orencia, the treatment for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), was associated with a re-establishment of clinical improvement.

The company presented the information at the European League Against Rheumatism (Eular) conference in Barcelona, Spain, demonstrating that after withdrawal of the treatment for a period of up to six months, reintroduction proved successful.

“Children with JIA can have long periods of inactive disease and clinical remission, which makes it important to study the efficacy and safety of restarting a treatment after a withdrawal period,” said Edward H Giannini, professor of pediatrics, division of rheumatology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre.

Dr Giannini continued by adding that the results suggest that the children who had “disease flares” while taking placebo during the “mandated withdrawal phase” were seen to re-establish clinical improvement when treatment with Orencia recommenced.

The investigational study consisted of three stages – period A, B and C – a lead-in treatment period, a double-blind withdrawal phase and an open-label phase to test efficacy and long-term safety.

Eular ran from June 13th to June 16th in the Spanish city.