SAN DIEGO, Nov. 21 /CNW/ -- Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SVNTE) announced that patients with elevated blood uric acid levels and treatment-resistant gout who were treated with its investigational drug Puricase(R) (PEG-uricase) had substantial and sustained reduction in plasma urate levels, according to study results presented at the American College of Rheumatology 2005 Annual Meeting. In addition, two case studies from the Phase 2 open-label trial that were presented show anecdotal photographic evidence that treatment with PEG-uricase unexpectedly resolved tophi, the nodular deposits of urate that can cause pain, local ulceration, disfigurement and joint destruction. It is unknown whether tophi were resolved in patients at other investigational sites as clinical outcome measures were not part of the phase 2 protocol design.
