Bristol-Myers Squibb Reports Consistent Safety, Effectiveness For Rheumatoid Arthritis Trial

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced the results of two Orencia (abatacept) studies at the 2009 Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR), in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Orencia is a selective co-stimulation modulator of T-cell activation.

The first, a long-term extension (LTE) study, analysed Orencia’s safety and efficacy profile over 7 years of treatment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, who have had an inadequate response to methotrexate (MTX).

The second study is the AIM (Abatacept in Inadequate responders to Methotrexate) study LTE, which reinforces the long-term safety and efficacy profile of Orencia.

X-ray data from the AIM LTE demonstrated that over five years, Orencia inhibited structural damage progression in the majority of patients on treatment. 45.1% of patients (n=120) assessed at year 5 continued to show no progression in structural damage. 98% of patients who were non-progressors during years 1-4 remained non-progressors at year 5.