Abbott's ABT-874 Shows Positive Results for Maintenance of Response in Phase II Psori...( Study Data Show Patients with Moderat...),Health

Study Data Show Patients with Moderate to Severe Psoriasis Who Responded to Anti-IL-12/23 ABT-874 after 12 Weeks of Treatment, Maintained Response at

24 Weeks

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Results from an extension to a Phase II study evaluating the effectiveness of Abbott's (NYSE: ABT) investigational anti-IL-12/23 antibody ABT-874 showed that a majority of patients who initially responded to treatment maintained a high level of response following discontinuation of therapy. In the study, patients who achieved 75 percent improvement in psoriasis signs and symptoms (PASI 75) at 12 weeks stopped receiving ABT-874. At 24 weeks, more than two- thirds of these patients maintained at least 50 percent improvement (PASI 50). The Phase II study, conducted in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis, will be presented at the World Congress of Dermatology in Buenos Aires.

Phase II results presented earlier this year at the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) Meeting showed ABT-874 reduced psoriasis symptoms significantly in the majority of patients treated. At 12 weeks, at least 90 percent of patients with moderate to severe psoriasis achieved 75 percent improvement in psoriasis signs and symptoms in all but the lowest dosing groups receiving ABT-874, versus 3 percent of patients receiving placebo. Also, more than half of patients achieved 90 percent improvement, in the same four of five ABT-874 dosing groups, versus 0 percent of those receiving placebo.

"ABT-874 represents a novel approach to treating psoriasis, targeting a part of the inflammatory response that is not addressed by any therapy available today," said Alan Menter, MD, Chair,
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