The pivotal study, Serene, investigated patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had an inadequate response to methotrexate (MTX) therapy, a commonly used RA drug. The study successfully met its primary endpoint by showing that significantly more patients treated with MabThera in combination with MTX achieved an improvement in disease signs and symptoms compared to patients treated with MTX alone.
William Burns, CEO, pharmaceuticals division of Roche, said: “The results are encouraging and show that MabThera represents a promising alternative to current treatment options in patients who have an inadequate response to traditional therapy.”