A novel pharmaceutical drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been found to be both safe and effective in its late Stage III trials. The drug is reportedly being developed by Johnson & Jonson and Schering-Plough.
Golimumab, the drug being tested is an immunosuppressive drug that targets tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), which is a pro-inflammatory molecule.
Objectives Met During Trials
During the first two trial the anti-TNF medicine was successful in reducing symptoms of (RA) by at least 20 percent, which was also the main objective of the trials.
Further, a unique result of the trial was that after 14 weeks of drug therapy, the drug provided relief even to those patients whose condition didn't respond well to some standard anti-TNF medicines.
This very fact raises hopes for some 20% of the patients whose conditions aren't controlled well by the existing drugs. The muslculoskeletal system drug once launched, is meant to be delivered to patients on a month basis. Eventhough it doesn't belong to a completely new class of drugs, the molecule is surely a freshman to the family of anti-TNF formulations.
The most commonly reported side effect of the drug was a mild irritation where it was injected, overall it was well accepted in patients.
Unmet Objectives During Trials
Despite the overall success of the drug, it fell short of meeting the objectives of another Stage III trial, wherein it couldn't relieve symptoms by at least 50% in patients who hadn't been treated previously with methotrexate, an old oral medicine. However, the symptomatic relief by at least 20 percent was replicated successfully.
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