Cimzia maintains remission in CD for up to 18 months

Belgian drugmaker UCB's Cimzia (certolizumab pegol), the first and only PEGylated anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy, has been shown to maintain remission for up to 18 months in patients with Crohn's disease, according to new data presented at the 15th United European Gastroenterology Week. The findings also showed that some patients who were re-introduced to Cimzia after losing clinical response were re-captured with only one additional induction dose and maintained remission with no dose escalation.

The data are from analyses of two ongoing open-label, long-term extension studies of the Phase III PRECiSE program. Of the patients who were randomised to Cimzia (n=215) after response to open-label induction with Cimzia in PRECiSE 2, 42% were still in remission after 12 months (n=90), and 37% were in remission up to 18 months (n=80). Over one third of the patients who had lost clinical response in the active arm of the same Phase III study were successfully recaptured with Cimzia, achieving and maintaining remission for up to 12 months thereafter (n=17). Data from both extension studies suggest that Cimzia continues to demonstrate an acceptable safety profile, UCB noted.