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Copaxone Significantly Reduced Annual Relapse Rates and Stabilized Disease Progression in RRM Patients Failing Interferon Treatment

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080410/20080410005751.html

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Thursday April 10, 10:44 am ET

JERUSALEM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA ) today announced results from a three-year study evaluating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients who failed first-line monotherapy and switched treatments. The results demonstrated that patients who switched from interferon -beta (IFN-beta) to COPAXONE® (glatiramer acetate injection) experienced a 77 percent reduction in annualized relapse rates (0.63 to 0.14). In addition, these patients did not progress significantly in their disability as measured by Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). The results of this study, entitled “Therapeutic outcome 3 years after switching of immunomodulatory therapies in patients with RRMS in Argentina,” were published in the April issue of the European Journal of Neurology.

The study evaluated the clinical efficacy of switching patients who responded inadequately to first-line immunomodulatory therapy. All patients who switched among the immunomodulatory treatments benefited in terms of relapse rate reduction, however, those who switched from IFN-beta to COPAXONE® experienced no significant disability progression, while patient disability continued to increase in patients who switched from COPAXONE® to IFN-beta or from one IFN-beta to another IFN-beta. These observations may be due to the emergence of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) in patients taking IFN-beta. In addition, proportion of patients who did not experience a relapse over the entire 3-year treatment period, increased from 16% to 68% following switch to COPAXONE®. Whereas the proportion of relapse-free patients switching from one IFN-beta to another IFN-beta remained similar before and after switch.

"RRMS patients who respond inadequately to first-line immunomodulatory therapy, generally benefit from switching to another class of immunomodulatory therapy”, said Adriana Carrá, M.D., Department of Neurology, Hospital Británico de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, principal investigator. “For patients switching from IFN-beta to Glatiramer Acetate, the results obtained are consistent with those of previous studies demonstrating a robust reduction in mean annualised relapse rate and a stabilisation of disease progression”.

About the Study

The prospective observational study included 114 RRMS patients and was conducted at eight multiple sclerosis (MS) centers in Argentina. The study evaluated the clinical efficacy of switching patients who responded inadequately to first-line immunomodulatory therapy, as measured by annualized relapse rates, as well as the mean change in EDSS over a six-year period. The study included a three-year initial treatment phase (Before Switch period) and a three-year After Switch treatment phase.

Patients included in the study were drawn from a large patient registry in Argentina of over 1,500 patients. Treatment was initiated with one of four immunomodulatory therapies: IFNâ-1a i.m., IFNâ-1a s.c. (22 or 44 µg), IFNB-1b or COPAXONE®. Clinical outcome was assessed after 3 years of treatment. Patients fulfilling criteria for treatment failure, defined as inadequate efficacy or the occurrence of adverse events, switched treatments either from low-dose to high-dose IFN-beta (n=31), from IFN-beta to COPAXONE® (n=47) or mitoxantrone (n=13), or from COPAXONE® to IFN-beta (n=16) and followed for an additional three years. The choice for subsequent treatment was made by the neurologist after discussion with the patient.

In the group of patients who switched from IFN-beta to COPAXONE® the annual relapse rate was reduced by 0.63 to 0.14, a decrease of 77 percent (p<0.0001). In those who switched to mitoxantrone, the annualized decreased rate was reduced by 71 percent (0.53 to 0.15) (p=0.64). In contrast, the decrease in annualized relapse rates in patients switching between different IFN-beta preparations was modest, declining from 0.37 to 0.16 (57 percent),(p=0.03).

For all patients switching because of inadequate efficacy, the EDSS score increased significantly over the original treatment period prior to the switch. Following the switch, EDSS scores continued to increase in patients switching from one IFN-beta to another (P= 0.028) or from COPAXONE® to an IFN-beta (P=0.0059). In contrast, in patients who switched from IFN-beta to either COPAXONE® or mitoxantrone, no significant progression was observed during the switch. Least improved scores were observed in patients switching between IFN-beta treatments.

In patients switching because of adverse events, no significant change in EDSS scores was observed during the initial period of treatment with either IFN-beta or COPAXONE®. EDSS scores remained stable following a switch from IFN-beta to COPAXONE® and from COPAXONE to IFN-beta.
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