New Analysis Shows Efficacy of SIMPONI(TM) (golimumab) in Anti-TNF Experienced Rheumatoid Arthriti...( Anti-TNF Experienced Patients Demonst...),Health

Anti-TNF Experienced Patients Demonstrated Improvement With Every-Four-Week Subcutaneous SIMPONI Despite Previous Medication or Reason for Discontinuation

COPENHAGEN, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- A new analysis demonstrated that a greater proportion of patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had prior treatment with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha agents and received subcutaneous injections of SIMPONI(TM) (golimumab) once every four weeks experienced significant improvements in signs and symptoms through week 24, compared with patients receiving placebo. Patients continued to receive stable doses of methotrexate, sulfasalazine and/or hydroxychloroquine if receiving them at baseline. These data were presented at the 2009 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual Congress.

Findings from the GOlimumab After Former anti-TNF Therapy Evaluated in RA (GO-AFTER) study, demonstrated that patients previously treated with adalimumab, etanercept or infliximab responded to and tolerated SIMPONI regardless of the type of prior anti-TNF therapy, as well as the number of prior therapies or reason for discontinuation. According to the study, 39 percent of patients receiving SIMPONI whose prior anti-TNF-alpha therapy had been discontinued due to a lack of efficacy achieved at least a 20 percent improvement in arthritis symptoms (ACR 20) at week 14, compared with 18 percent of patients receiving placebo (p<0.001). Thirty-four percent of patients receiving SIMPONI whose prior anti-TNF-alpha therapy had been discontinued for all other reasons achieved ACR 20, compared with 20 percent of patients receiving placebo (p=0.027).

"Golimumab has shown promise in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis patients who have previously discontinued other anti-TNF-alpha therapies," said Josef S. Smolen, MD, Professor and Chairman, Departm
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