Adalimumab therapy effective in AS, RA and PsA patients refractory to other anti-TNF...( Paris France Thursday 12 June 2008: ...),Health

Paris, France, Thursday, 12 June 2008: Adalimumab therapy is effective and well-tolerated in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients with a previously inadequate response to anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapies etanercept and infliximab, according to results of research presented today at EULAR 2008, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Paris, France. This positive response to adalimumab was greatest for patients who had been intolerant of their anti-TNF therapies, or had lost their initial responses, compared with those who had had no response to prior anti-TNF therapies at all.

After 12 weeks of treatment with adalimumab, AS patients were found to have a mean reduction in BASDAI (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index) of -2.4 following previous etanercept and/or infliximab treatment, and a reduction of -2.9 in those who have not had prior anti-TNF therapy. RA patients had a mean reduction in DAS28 (Disease Activity Scale 28) of -1.9 following previous treatment with either etanercept or infliximab.

Lead researcher, Dr G R Burmester of Berlin University Hospital, commented: "An increasing number of patients with rheumatic diseases, such as AS, RA or PsA, are experiencing an inadequate response to, or are intolerant of, treatment with existing anti-TNFs including etanercept or infliximab. The results of our study show that adalimumab offers new hope for those who have tried, but not responded well, to other treatment options for their diseases."

61% of AS patients who had lost their initial responses to previous anti-TNFs reached ASAS20 (a measure of 20% improvement in 4 domains commonly affected in AS including: pain, inflammation, function, and patient's global assessment of disease activity) after twelve weeks of adalimumab therapy and 42% of patients reached ASAS40 (a 40% improvement across these domains)
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