Results from Roche’s two Phase III studies and one Phase II study revealed that treatment with the investigational agent tocilizumab (marketed as ACTEMRA™ in Japan for Castleman's Disease) was consistent in improving remission rates in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) vs. placebo or other conventional antirheumatic treatments including the current standard of care: methotrexate.
The clinical data backing such findings have recently been presented at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting in Washington D.C.
According to Mark C. Genovese, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine:
"These findings are important because about half of all patients do not receive optimal results with current treatments, and these data suggest that targeted blockade of IL-6 shows promise in the treatment of RA.”
Tocilizumab (ACTEMRA™) by Roche (USA) (OTC: RHHBY) is the first humanized interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor-blocking monoclonal antibody to be investigated as a potential treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) - a progressive, systemic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the membrane lining in joints.
Find more details from the press release.
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