Positive Ph III findings on ALK's new house dust mite allergy immunotherapy; EU filing expected in 2014

Denmark-based allergy specialist ALK Abello (ALKB: DC) has announced positive outcome of the first of two pivotal Phase III trials with its new allergy immunotherapy tablet for the treatment of house dust mite-induced respiratory diseases. The MERIT trial meets its primary endpoint and demonstrates that the new treatment has a significant clinical effect in allergic rhinitis. The positive outcome allows for a European filing in 2014, the company said.

The results demonstrate that the treatment significantly reduces symptoms and medication use in patients with house dust mite-induced allergic rhinitis. The results were highly statistically significant (p<0.01). The trial also demonstrated that the treatment was well tolerated and had a favorable safety profile.

“The robust results of the MERIT trial represent a major step forward in the treatment of the world’s most common cause of allergy estimated to affect more than 200 million people worldwide. Allergy immunotherapy tablets are an efficacious and convenient treatment for the many patients experiencing poor disease control,” says executive vice president Henrik Jacobi, head of R&D at ALK.