HERNE, Germany, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new analysis of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study, significantly more ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients treated with ENBREL(R) (etanercept) had regression of spinal inflammation compared to placebo. These data are being presented on October 19, 2004 at the American College of Rheumatology's Annual Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Ankylosing spondylitis, which affects at least 350,000 people in the United States, is a painful and potentially disabling inflammatory disease affecting the joints and ligaments that normally allow a person's back to move and flex. If the inflammation is not controlled, AS can lead to structural damage such as spinal fusion, which may result in a permanent stooped-over posture. AS frequently strikes between the ages of 16 and 30 and can sometimes affect the eyes and/or small joints of the hands and feet. Currently, ENBREL is the only therapy approved in the US to treat the signs and symptoms of AS.
"We already know that ENBREL is effective in treating the signs and symptoms of this disease, however it is exciting to see that MRI scans, which detect early inflammatory changes that may damage bone structure, showed that ENBREL in part reversed this inflammatory change," said Dr. Juergen Braun, lead physician at the Rheumatological Center in Herne and professor at the Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany. "These data provide support that ENBREL may potentially be successful in decelerating or even inhibiting the progression of structural damage due to AS."
In a subanalysis, MRI films showed 73 percent of patients taking ENBREL experienced a significant regression in active inflammatory spinal lesions, while 13 percent taking placebo experienced continued deterioration. These changes were detectable in as early as 6 weeks.
Ruhr UniversityCONTACT: Maura Bergen of Porter Novelli, +1-212-601-8220, for RuhrUniversity
