Novartis receives EU approval for gouty arthritis therapy Ilaris

Novartis has been granted European regulatory approval for the treatment of patients with acute gouty arthritis.

Based on positive data from clinical trials, the drug has been ratified by the European Commission for use among patients who suffer frequent attacks and whose symptoms cannot or should not be managed with current treatment options.

It is administered in a single subcutaneous injection of 150 mg and represents the first biologic therapy for symptomatic pain relief in a gouty arthritis indication to be approved in the EU.

Based on the significant clinical benefit over existing treatments the drug offers, the European Commission has also granted Novartis an additional year of data exclusivity.

David Epstein, division head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, said: "The approval of Ilaris for acute gouty arthritis attacks in patients without appropriate treatment options provides new hope for those debilitated by this excruciating condition."

Last month, the company's therapy Zortress became the first drug approved in the US for the prevention of organ rejection in adult liver transplant patients in more than a decade.