LONDON (Reuters) – An experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug from AstraZeneca proved inferior to Abbott Laboratories‘ Humira in a clinical study, knocking hopes for one of the few late-stage products in the company’s pipeline.
The Phase IIb monotherapy study of fostamatinib – which is given as a pill rather than injected, as is the case with Humira – showed it was not as good as Abbott’s market-leading product in controlling arthritis symptoms, AstraZeneca said on Thursday.
The Phase IIb is not the definitive test for fostamatinib, which AstraZeneca hopes could have an important role to play as a more convenient alternative to injectable medicines.
A more comprehensive assessment of fostamatinib used in combination with other drugs is being carried out in pivotal Phase III studies that will report results in the first half of 2013, and would form the basis of any regulatory submissions.
AstraZeneca licensed fostamatinib from Rigel Pharmaceuticals.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler)
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AstraZeneca arthritis drug worse than Humira in study
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AstraZeneca arthritis drug worse than Humira in study
