Phase III study shows superiority of sarilumab over Humira

The results of SARIL-RA-MONARCH, a Phase III study were presented today at an oral session during the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Meeting in Washington DC.

The study demonstrated the superiority of Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) and Regeneron’s (Nasdaq: REGN) investigational sarilumab monotherapy versus adalimumab (marketed by AbbVie as Humira) monotherapy in improving the clinical signs and symptoms in adults with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

"Approximately 30 percent of people with RA are being treated with biologic monotherapy largely due to intolerance to methotrexate," said Dr Gerd Burmester, of Charité - University Medicine, Berlin, Germany and lead study author. "In the MONARCH monotherapy study, sarilumab was more effective than adalimumab, which is one of the most commonly used biologics today," he added.