Bristol-Myers Squibb: Arthritis drug demonstrates efficacy

Bristol-Myers Squibb has reported “pivotal” phase III trial results for Orencia, a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

The American company claims the drug demonstrated long-term efficacy in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis who had previously not responded adequately to anti-TNF therapies like Humira or Enbrel, or Kineret.

Furthermore, the patients taking Orencia during the two-year study period showed “clinically meaningful” improvements in various aspects of quality of life, including pain levels and physical function.

The drug was also found to have a “consistent” safety and tolerability profile, with 3.3 per cent of patients from the two-year Assure study withdrawing due to adverse events.

Mark Genovese, associate professor of medicine from Stanford University’s school of medicine, remarked: “These data are encouraging and add to the body of evidence demonstrating that Orencia is an effective option providing durable response for patients who have not benefited fully from previous treatment with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.”

He added that the long-term data would provide important advice on how best to treat patients because of the chronic nature of rheumatoid arthritis.

Bristol-Myers Squibb claims that it has submitted Orencia data to the European authorities for regulatory approval.

In May, the company announced plans to license out the manufacturing of Orencia to Lonza Biologics, a Swiss chemical and biopharmaceuticals company that has one manufacturing facility in Slough, Berkshire.