GHENT, BELGIUM--(Marketwire - Jun 25, 2012) -
* Additional Phase II data (ACR20 84%; DAS28 remission 38%) demonstrates
that ozoralizumab could have an important competitive and
differentiated position in the $24 billion TNFa market
* Data from the open-label study suggest that ozoralizumab enables
individualised treatment, a real breakthrough in TNFa therapy, which
could prove beneficial to patients and minimise the treatment cost
* Immunogenicity did not affect the efficacy of ozoralizumab, while it
is known to have a big impact on the efficacy of Humira®, the
world's biggest selling anti-TNFa drug
Results will be discussed during a webcast press conference presentation
today at 14h CET, 8 am EST
Click here to register, call number +32 (0)2 789 21 26
Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX], today announced
that its anti-TNFa Nanobody, ozoralizumab (ATN-103), for the
treatment of
inflammatory diseases, showed excellent safety and efficacy results in
the
48-week open-label extension (OLE) study of the worldwide and Japanese
Phase II
trials in the treatment of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) who
have an
insufficient response to methotrexate alone.
Dr Edwin Moses, Chairman and CEO of Ablynx, commented:
"We always believed in this programme and now the data from this long-term
study
have even positively surprised us. We now have extensive efficacy data
that are
potentially as good, if not better, than other commercially available
anti-TNFa
products (and this is a $24 billion market) and, in terms of
immunogenicity, an
unexpected and potentially major advantage over Humira®, the
world's biggest
selling anti-TNFa and any of its biosimilar competitors that may be
launched in
the future. We believe that we now have the components of a much
stronger and
differentiating licensing package than we had previously."
About Ablynx
Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and
development
of Nanobodies®, a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on
single-domain
antibody fragments, for a range of serious human diseases,
including
inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease. Today, the
Company
has over 25 programmes in the pipeline and seven Nanobodies are at
clinical
development stage. Ablynx has ongoing research collaborations and
significant
partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies, including
Boehringer
Ingelheim, Merck Serono, and Novartis. The Company is headquartered in
Ghent,
Belgium. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com.
Complete version of the press release:
http://hugin.info/137912/R/1621722/518240.pdf
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Source: Ablynx via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1621722]