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Biotech / Medical : Indications -- Psoriasis/Chronic Inflammation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Icebrg who wrote (288)	10/18/2002 9:15:19 AM
From: nigel bates	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 631

LFA-1 Novartis ZURICH, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Novartis AG (NOVZn.VX) has agreed to license experimental LFA-1 antagonist drugs from Japan's Tanabe Seiyaku Co Ltd (Tokyo:4508.T - News) for potential use in treating inflammatory autoimmune diseases, the Swiss healthcare group said on Friday. It gave no financial terms in a statement. The deal gives Novartis exclusive rights to develop and market LFA-1 antagonists in the United States, Europe and many other countries excluding Japan and some other Asian countries....

To: Icebrg who wrote (288)	10/25/2002 6:08:53 PM
From: Icebrg	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 631

Trials show new arthritis drug safe and effective Friday October 25, 6:00 pm ET By Emma Graham-Harrison LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Trials of a new arthritis drug show it is as safe and effective as drugs currently on the market, but cheaper and simpler to take, a scientist said. Rituximab combats rheumatoid arthritis, a severely disabling disease that affects around 5.8 million people worldwide. It causes inflammation of joints and bone erosion -- badly affected patients can sometimes need two or three hours just to get out of bed in the morning. Professor Jo Edwards, who has been leading trials of the new drug at University College London, said they showed two injections of Rituximab could cause a temporary remission in rheumatoid arthritis that lasted up to three years. "Rituximab looks to be as good as the best drugs currently available," he told reporters. "The study shows it definitely works, and works in a long-term fashion." The drug noticeably improved the condition of over 80 percent of the 122 patients studied, and caused major improvements in the condition of half. "We've had people going back to the gym, back to work" Edwards said. Current treatments are effective in reducing the signs and symptoms of disease, but have to be injected frequently to maintain their effect, some as often as once a week. They also cost around 10,000 pounds ($15,500) for a year's treatment Edwards said, while Rituximab costs only 4,000 pounds for two injections which can last for one to three years. Worldwide rights to Rituximab are owned jointly by drugmakers Roche(ROCZg.VX), Genentech Inc(NYSE:DNA - News) and Idec (NasdaqNM:IDPH - News). FEW SIDE EFFECTS Side effects can be problematic when treating autoimmune diseases because drugs often have to attack the malfunctioning part of the immune system. This can leave the body vulnerable to other illesses. However Edwards said Rituximab, originally used for treating lymphatic cancer, has very few side effects "Some people get feverish reactions after the injection of the drug but in fact in arthritis cases very few patients had any trouble with that," he said. "Other than that, it is remarkably free of any problems." Edwards said Rituximab seems safe but will probably not be licensed to treat rheumatoid arthritis for another two to three years, after more trials. "At the moment, it looks as if it is at least as safe as other things that are available, but the reason why we can't tell everybody to go out and get this drug tomorrow is that we need to be sure that it's really safe," he said. The use of Rituximab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is based on a new theory about the causes of the disease, developed by Edwards' team in 1996. He predicted that the disease was caused by malfunctioning of a part of the immune system called B-cells, and that temporarily wiping out the body's B-cells might produce a long term cure. Although Rituximab only appears to produce a medium-term remission at the moment, Edwards said the effectiveness of the treatment supported the theory and put the possibility of a cure on the agenda. "We should make it very clear to people that nobody is claiming a cure at this point," he said. "We're just saying that we're now excited by the idea that a cure is an objective."