ROME -- An investigational biologic drug that inhibits B cells in a way different from rituximab (Rituxan) was effective against rheumatoid arthritis in a phase II trial, according to a report here.
Up to 42.4% of RA patients treated with LY2127399 for 16 weeks showed 50% symptom reduction according to American College of Rheumatology criteria (ACR50), compared with 8.8% of a placebo group, said Mark C. Genovese, MD, of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
He also told attendees at the European League Against Rheumatism meeting that the drug led to mean reductions in DAS28-CRP scores by about 1.5 points from baseline averages of about 6.
Treatment-emergent adverse events and discontinuation rates in the 136-patient randomized study did not differ between the placebo and active-drug arms.
LY2127399 is a monoclonal antibody against B-cell activating factor (BAFF), a protein related to tumor necrosis factor that promotes survival of antibody-producing B cells as they exit the bone marrow and also prevents them from undergoing apoptosis later on.
Lab research has suggested that blocking BAFF would reduce counts of B cells responsible for autoantibody production in RA and potentially other autoimmune diseases, without obliterating the body's ability to generate infection-fighting immunoglobulins.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/EULAR/20747