Biogen and AbbVie report reduced disease activity with MS drug Zinbryta

US biotech company Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB) and US pharma giant AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) have announced the full results from the Phase III DECIDE clinical trial, which show Zinbryta (daclizumab high-yield process), dosed subcutaneously once a month, demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in reducing disease activity in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) compared to Biogen's multiple sclerosis drug Avonex (interferon beta-1a).

The results were presented at the Sixth Triennial Joint Meeting of the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis and the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS) in Boston, USA, last week.

Gilmore O’Neill, vice president, Multiple Sclerosis R&D, Biogen Idec, said: “For people living with multiple sclerosis, there continues to be a need for new medicines that work in different ways. If approved, Zinbryta would offer a novel mechanism to treating MS, in a self-administered, once-monthly dosing regimen.”