BASEL (dpa-AFX) - Novartis (NVS) announced that AIN457 or secukinumab met primary and key secondary endpoints in two pivotal Phase III studies (MEASURE 1 and MEASURE 2) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis or AS.
Key endpoints included improvements in signs and symptoms of the disease versus placebo and associated improvements in physical function and quality of life. Secukinumab is an investigational medicine that works by stopping the action of interleukin-17A (IL-17A), a protein that is central to the development of inflammatory diseases, including AS. MEASURE 1 and MEASURE 2 enrolled a combined total of approximately 600 patients.
AS is a common type of spondyloarthropathy or SpA, a family of long-term diseases impacting joints (inflammatory diseases), which includes other conditions such as psoriatic arthritis or PsA.
Joint regulatory applications for secukinumab in AS and PsA are planned for 2015. This follows the secukinumab global regulatory applications for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis which were filed in October 2013 with regulatory decisions anticipated in late 2014 or early 2015.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX