Celgene study shows early onset of efficacy for Otezla in psoriatic arthritis

Celgene has announced new clinical data showing the rapid improvements that its drug Otezla can provide for psoriatic arthritis.

Findings from the ACTIVE phase IIIb clinical trial of Otezla showed that the drug met its primary endpoint of delivering significant improvements among patients with active psoriatic arthritis who have not previously been treated with a biologic therapy.

Improvements were seen as early as the second week of treatment, with response rates increasing from 38 percent at week 16 to 67 percent at week 52 for patients who received Otezla therapy from baseline.

Otezla is an oral small-molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 specific for cyclic adenosine monophosphate, with the specific mechanism by which it exerts its therapeutic action currently not well defined.

Dr Jacob Aelion, clinical professor of medicine/rheumatology at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, said: "Early responses at week two across several measures of disease activity, including morning stiffness and enthesitis, were also seen at week 16."

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