UCB says monthly Cimzia dose effective for Crohn's disease

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., May 22 - Biopharmaceutical company UCB released new phase 3 trial data suggesting that when compared with a placebo, a significantly greater proportion of moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease patients achieved clinical response with subcutaneous once-monthly Cimzia (certolizumab pegol, CDP870), a new type of antitumor necrosis factor therapy.

"The Precise 1 results indicate that Cimzia, administered subcutaneously with a simple and stable once-monthly dose following an induction phase requiring only one additional administration at week 2, was a highly potent and effective therapy for patients with moderate to severe Crohn's disease," said William J. Sandborn, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and lead investigator for the clinical trial.

"These significant results were demonstrated using a demanding design in which, for the first time, all eligible Crohn's disease patients were randomized to either Cimzia or a placebo at study baseline without pre-selecting responders from an unblinded treatment induction period and treated for a period longer than four weeks," he said.

Trial results confirmed that both co-primary endpoints were met with statistical significance, and demonstrate that compared to a placebo, a statistically greater percentage of Cimzia, patients achieved a clinical response, according to a news release.

Additionally, the percentage of patients who experienced remission at week four and separately at week 26 was statistically significant with Cimzia (week 4: 19.5% Cimzia vs. 11.3% placebo; week 26: 29.5% Cimzia vs. 18.3% placebo), the release said.

UCB, located in Brussels, Belgium, develops pharmaceutical and biotechnology products in the fields of central nervous system disorders, allergy/respiratory diseases, immune and inflammatory disorders and oncology.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.