Celgene reports positive psoriatic arthritis drug data

Celgene has announced positive findings from a new phase III study assessing its developmental drug apremilast as a treatment for psoriatic arthritis.

Data from the Palace 3 trial showed that the compound demonstrated significant improvements in patient response compared to placebo among subjects who had previously received or failed an oral disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) and/or biologic therapy.

Apremilast treatment was used alone or in combination with oral DMARDs, with the therapy also delivering enhancements in terms of physical function, signs and symptoms and quality of life.

Palace 3 was the third of four planned phase III trials that evaluated the investigational drug, with all of the results produced thus far having been encouraging.

Data from Palace 4, released in May 2013, showed that apremilast delivered a 20 percent improvement compared to baseline after 16 weeks.

Celgene has already filed for US regulatory approval of the drug and expects to submit an application to the European Medicines Agency in the second half of this year.