Poor Arthritis Drug Trials: UK Manufacturer’s Stock Plunges

When you have arthritis, and hear that a new, experimental drug hasn’t done so well in clinical trials, your mental wellness may take a hit. Now you have longer to wait for something that could cure your disease forever, and this can leave you feeling down, and even depressed. But what about the wellbeing of the company whose drug has just failed? How do they suffer?

AstraZeneca Plc has been working on an experimental drug known as fostamatinib which, in a late-stage clinical trial, showed mixed results in treating rheumatoid arthritis. You might not think this is the end of the world, but, as a result the shares of partnering Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. has plunged. The London-based company said in a statement that the treatment showed a statistically significant improvement in a measure of arthritis symptoms in the study known as Oskira-1. However, fostamatinib failed to show improvement in an x-ray that tracks the progression of joint damage.

According to Briggs Morrison, executive vice president of global medicines development, the trial shows the drug ‘has an effect on the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. We will await the results of the remaining Phase III studies, Oskira-2 and Oskira-3, to further evaluate and characterize the profile of fostamatinib as a potential treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.’ In a mid-stage trial last year, fostamatinib didn’t show a benefit compared to Abbott Laboratories’ Humira.

Results from Oskira-2 and Oskira-3 are due later in the second quarter, and AstraZeneca – the UK’s second-biggest drug manufacturer – needs successful results. According to an analyst at Nordea, Fostamatinib is AstraZeneca’s only experimental product that could make a meaningful difference to earnings this decade and yet these clinical trial findings have added to worries that the drug may lack commercial potential.

At the moment, new products are vital to the company as it needs to ease a sales slump caused by competition from generic medicines. AstraZeneca fell as much as 0.4% to 3,290.5 pence and was trading up 0.1% at 12:52 pm. In the past year, the stock has returned 25%, which includes reinvested dividends. By way of comparison, Bloomberg Europe Pharmaceutical Index returned 30%..

Poor Arthritis Drug Trials: UK Manufacturer’s Stock Plunges

Categories: arthritis drug, clinical trials, stock

Japan Welcomes New Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug

This month it has been announced that arthritis wellness in Japan is set to improve thanks to the approval of a new rheumatoid arthritis drug. Made by Manufacturer Pfizer Inc, Xeljanz is a twice-a-day pill which the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare have approved for use in patients whose wellbeing has not improved after using at least one other disease-modifying drug.

When you have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), it means that your immune system mistakenly attacks your body’s tissues, mainly in your joints. This disabling autoimmune disorder limits your mobility and sometimes leaves your fingers bent at uncomfortable angles. RA generally gets worse with time, even attacking your lungs, heart, eyes, skin, blood and nerves. Early, aggressive treatment can slow the progression of the disease

Xeljanz works inside your cells, inhibiting your Janus kinase enzyme’s signalling pathways, which are involved in the inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis. This makes Xeljanz one of a new class of medicines called Janus kinase inhibitors, or JAK inhibitors for short, and is the first of this class to be approved for use. On the other hand, other RA drugs, such as Enbrel and Remicade, work outside your body’s cells, broadly suppressing your immune system in order to slow progression of the disorder.

These other RA drugs are expensive, must be injected or infused, and can cause significant side effects. You can experience persistent fevers, flu-like illness, susceptibility to infections and flare-ups of dormant diseases such as tuberculosis. According to Mark Swindell, head of Pfizer’s specialty care business in Japan, ‘RA is a serious and disabling disease and there is a need for new treatment options, as a significant number of patients do not adequately respond to current therapies.’

Pfizer is the world’s largest drugmaker by revenue, and the company commented that Xeljanz will initially only be made available in Japan to medical institutions participating in a programme monitoring the progress of all patients. The drug was approved as for use in the US in November, and now with Japan welcoming Xeljanz it could be a potential big seller for Pfizer. In Japan, 750,000 people are affected by rheumatoid arthritis, and Pfizer asserted that up to one-third of patients don’t respond adequately to current therapies.

Japan Welcomes New Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug

Categories: Arthritis, arthritis drug, current therapies, JAK Inhibitors, janus kinase, Japan, pfizer, ra drugs, Rheumatoid Arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), xeljanz