NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) announced today that new Phase III clinical data show that a weekly subcutaneous injection of an investigational formulation of ORENCIA® (abatacept), following a single intravenous (I.V.) loading dose, provided an improvement in disease activity similar to the improvement seen with monthly I.V. administration of ORENCIA in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Improvement in disease activity was measured using the ACR20 criteria (a measurement of RA disease state improvement). The ACQUIRE (Abatacept Comparison of Sub(Qu)cutaneous vs. Intravenous in Inadequate Responders to Methotrexate) trial is a multinational study involving 1,457 patients. ORENCIA has the potential to become the first biologic agent to offer physicians and their appropriate RA patients the flexibility to choose either weekly subcutaneous or monthly I.V. administration. The ACQUIRE results will be presented on November 10 at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Scientific Meeting, which is being held in Atlanta from November 6 to 11.
