Clinical Trials of Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs Shows Positive Results

Phase III clinical trials into drugs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis within emerging markets have yielded positive results.

EPIRUS Biopharmaceuticals Inc. compared the use of the EPIRUS infliximab molecule BOW-015 to Remicade for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The study showed that a higher proportion of patients responded to BOW-015 by week 16 compared with those that used Remicade. The response rate for BOW-015 was 89.8% in week 16 while for Remicade it was 86.4%.

President and chief executive officer at EPIRUS Amit Munshi said: "Our mission at EPIRUS is to improve access to safe and effective biologic therapeutics for patients in emerging markets."

EPIRUS intends to file for regulatory approval in a number of target emerging markets during the next 12 months.

Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common form of joint inflammation. In the UK, there are more than 400,000 known cases of the condition.