Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AUXL)’s lead development product AA4500 passed its early Phase III study in the treatment of Dupuytren's contracture.
Dupuytren's contracture is a disabling and recurring hand condition characterized by contracting of joints, impairing patients' ability to straighten and move their fingers.
AA4500 is a collagenase enzyme that is injected into patients' affected joints, in which in this study led to a 91 percent success rate in reducing joint contracture to within five degrees of normal, compared to the placebo arm in which no patients achieved success.
According to Lawrence Hurst, M.D., lead investigator and Professor and Chair of Department of Orthopaedics and Chief of the Division of Hand Surgery at SUNY at Stony Brook, NY:
"These statistically significant study results exceeded our expectations and show the potential for AA4500 to become an effective, first line therapy for patients suffering from Dupuytren's contracture, a condition currently treated with complex hand surgery.
Even in these joints, AA4500 demonstrated results that are at least equal to surgery if not better. AA4500 was well tolerated. It was reassuring that we were able to give patients multiple injections in multiple joints with no immunological side effects."
Clinical data were presented by Dr. Lawrence Hurst at the 74th annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) in San Diego, CA.
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[Photo Credit: healthgate.partners.org]
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