Novartis’ Ilaris Offers Long Term Remission For CAPS

Novartis has announced that the investigational biological therapy Ilaris produced rapid and sustained remission of symptoms in patients with a rare and potentially life-threatening auto-inflammatory disease, cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS).

The result was declared based on the year long phase III trial. The study showed that more than 90% of CAPS patients treated with Ilaris remained in remission at the end of the final four-month phase of the study. In the first part of the study lasting eight weeks, 35 patients received a single dose of Ilaris. 97% of them showed a rapid and complete response.

The phase III clinical trial in CAPS was a multinational, randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study designed to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of Ilaris.

Trevor Mundel, Head of Global Development, Novartis, said: Ilaris is the outcome of our highly innovative approach to research and development that is designed to bring more and better targeted medicines to patients in the shortest possible time. We are extremely excited about the efficacy shown by Ilaris in patients with CAPS, and we hope to be able to extend these benefits to many more patients with other inflammatory diseases which are more widespread, and often equally debilitating.