Bristol-Myers Squibb has reported that new clinical data support continued development of a subcutaneous administration of Orencia (abatacept) for patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. Reportedly, the subcutaneous program utilizes a new formulation of Orencia, which has been specifically designed for subcutaneous administration.
The primary objective of the short-term open-label treatment period was to evaluate the immunogenicity of Orencia when used with or without methotrexate in the absence of an IV loading dose of Orencia. Of the 100 patients enrolled in the open-label study, 51 received subcutaneous Orencia plus methotrexate and 49 received subcutaneous Orencia monotherapy. Orencia was self-administered once a week at a fixed dose of 125 mg in a ready-to-use pre-filled syringe.
These data, from a 4-month open-label trial involving 100 patients, were presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting. The study showed that weekly administration of a 125 mg subcutaneous dose of Orencia resulted in minimal, transient immunogenicity prior to month 4 after repeat dosing. The immunogenicity was similar whether Orencia was administered in combination with methotrexate, a common treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, or as a monotherapy. By the 4th month, patients had no antibody response to subcutaneous Orencia.
Peter Nash, associate professor of department of medicine at University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, said: “These new data assessing subcutaneous Orencia confirm no new safety signal, demonstrate efficacy both in combination with methotrexate and as monotherapy and show no immunogenicity with the subcutaneous formulation at 4 months.”