Two pivotal Phase III sirukumab studies presented at ACR 2016

Results from two pivotal Phase III studies evaluating sirukumab, a human anti-interleukin (IL)-6 monoclonal antibody,  for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were presented at this year’s American Congress of Rheumatology (ACR) annual meeting by Janssen Research & Development, a subsidiary of US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

First, the SIRROUND-H showed patients receiving sirukumab monotherapy demonstrated significantly greater improvement in Disease Activity Score (DAS28), the first of two co-primary endpoints, when compared with Humira (adalimumab) monotherapy. Investigators also reported results from a second study (SIRROUND-T), which showed that patients refractory to or intolerant to one or more anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) treatments receiving sirukumab demonstrated significant improvement in signs and symptoms of active RA compared with placebo.

“We are focused on developing a range of therapeutic options to help meet the needs of people living with RA, including individuals who are still searching for an effective option having not experienced success with other advanced therapies,” said Newman Yeilding, head of immunology development, Janssen Research & Development, adding: “We believe the sirukumab data generated to date show the potential of this IL-6-targeted therapy to benefit adults living with moderately to severely active RA in the future, and we look forward to continuing to work with global health authorities on the applications that have been submitted.”