Novartis to present new AIN457 data at ACR 2014

Novartis has announced that it will be attending the forthcoming American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Congress, where it will be sharing the latest clinical data on its therapy AIN457, also known as secukinumab.

During the Boston conference, data from two phase III trials will underline the treatment's efficacy in psoriatic arthritis patients, while results from a further pair of studies will demonstrate the benefits it offers in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis.

All four of these trials met their primary efficacy endpoints, in terms of preventing joint structural damage progression and enhancing quality of life.

Global regulatory applications seeking approval of the drug in these indications will be submitted by the company in 2015.

Vasant Narasimhan, global head of development at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, said: "There remains a significant unmet need for new psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis therapies as many patients have an inadequate or no response to available treatments."

Secukinumab has also previously demonstrated its effectiveness in the treatment of psoriasis in clinical trial data published in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year.