Data released from a phase III trial with
REMICADE(R) (
infliximab) showed improvement in both the
arthritis and
psoriasis associated with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). In this trial, REMICADE provided a 70 percent improvement (as measured by ACR 70) in symptoms of arthritis in nearly one-third of patients, compared with only 2 percent of patients on placebo at 24 weeks.
In patients with psoriasis that involved 3 percent or more of their body surface area (BSA), treatment with REMICADE resulted in an impressive improvement with over 40 percent of patients achieving a 90 percent or more improvement in PASI score and 21 percent of patients achieving 100 percent improvement in PASI score as early as week 14 with response maintained throughout the study. In addition, REMICADE was efficacious in the treatment of dactylitis and enthesopathies, two common manifestations of PsA causing pain and swelling. These findings from the IMPACT 2 Psoriatic Arthritis phase III trial are being presented at two major medical meetings: the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual European Congress of Rheumatology and the International Psoriasis Symposium (IPS).
"Patients with psoriatic arthritis require treatments that address the dual challenges of this disorder," said Christian Antoni, MD, Friedrich- Alexander-University, Erlangen, Germany. "The results of IMPACT are compelling as they support the potential of REMICADE in alleviating both the skin and joint symptoms of this condition."
"The results of IMPACT 2 are exciting and promising for both physicians and patients," remarked Kim Papp, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Clinical Professor, University of Western Ontario and one of the study's lead investigators. "In this study, a significant number of patients achieved total or almost total clearance of their psoriatic skin disease."
"These data are important to rheumatologists because they suggest that it is possible to rapidly achieve relief from the signs and symptoms of arthritis for a substantial number of patients with this potentially debilitating disease," said Arthur Kavanaugh, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Center for Innovative Therapy, UCSD, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, and one of the lead investigators in the trial.