UK NEWS

NEW HOPE ON ARTHRITIS AS DRUG HALTS IT IN ITS TRACKS

AGONY: Patients have inflamed joints

Monday October 27,2008

By Jo Willey

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A NEW drug that can halt crippling rheumatoid arthritis in half of all sufferers is revealed today.

The treatment offers hope to the country’s 487,000 sufferers from the condition.

Trials found that in 50 per cent of cases the antibody drug tocilizumab can stop the disease progressing, particularly in the early stages.

Nothing can be done to reverse damage caused by arthritis – occurring when the immune system attacks the body’s own tissue, inflaming joints and leading to severe disability and pain.

But the results showed that adding tocilizumab to an existing treatment, methotrexate, can achieve remission in almost half of cases.

This compares with a remission rate of just eight per cent in those who took methotrexate alone in the trial.

Tocilizumab was found to slow the destruction of joints and improve mobility. It is approved by European regulators and is expected to get its UK marketing licence in January.

Professor Paul Emery, from Leeds University, who led the study said: “These trial findings are significant because it is critical to stop joint damage as quickly as possible.”

Ailsa Bosworth, of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, said: “The results present new hope for the hundreds of thousands of people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.”

Robert Moots, professor of rheumatology at Liverpool University said: “Tocilizumab offers a great leap forward.”

Professor Iain McInnes, of Glasgow University, said: “This exciting new treatment promises to be a powerful weapon in the fight against RA.”

Viral infections, stress and genes are all thought to play a role in the cause of the disease.

Earlier this year British scientists announced a new wonder jab that could be a cure for the disease.

The treatment involves cells taken from the patient being altered and injected back into the affected joint.

It works like a vaccine and changes human cells to suppress – rather than activate – the immune system.

A team at Newcastle University is preparing trials on volunteers and if successful the treatment could be available in five years.