AbbVie posts promising data on RA drug
pharmafile | June 8, 2017 | News story | Research and Development | AbbVie, JAK inhibitor
AbbVie posted results on upadacitinib, the latest drug in its pipeline for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the results have given the company a huge boost by managing to hit all endpoints. Alongside the positive results against placebo, the drug was also able to display a consistent safety profile from previous Phase 2 trials.
The results showed that 64% of patients given a 15mg dose of the drug and 66% of patients given a 30mg dose experienced a 20% reduction of symptoms related to RA. The 12-week trial compared these results against placebo, with only 36% of patients displaying such reduction of symptoms.
Beyond this, 48% of patients who received the drug achieved low disease activity against 17% of patients taking placebo treatment. 31% and 28% of patients were found to achieve clinical remission with 15mg and 30mg treatment, respectively.
Patients were being treated after they had not responded adequately to standard treatment.
The drug, upadacitinib, is a JAK1-selective inhibitor, part of a new group of RA treatments that block enzymes called Janus kinases that cause inflammation. Pfizer currently has Xeljanz, which is also a JAK1 oral treatment, and has already been approved by the FDA.
“We are especially encouraged by the results on the more stringent measures of efficacy, such as ACR70, low disease activity and clinical remission. We look forward to seeing the full results from our Phase 3 program. AbbVie’s longstanding leadership in the treatment of immune-mediated diseases provides an opportunity to build upon our understanding and develop innovative therapies to address unmet patient needs,” said Michael Severino, Chief Scientific Officer, AbbVie.
The positive results come at a particularly good time for AbbVie, after rival JAK inhibitor produced by Eli Lilly and Incyte Corp was rejected by the FDA.
The drug is projected to achieve peak sales of $3.5 billion across all indications, adding to AbbVie’s RA dominance established by Humira and potentially picking up the slack as it comes under fire from biosimilars.
Ben Hargreaves
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