Ferring present OA drug results at AAOS

The US subsidiary of Ferring Pharmaceuticals presented the results of a six-month safety and efficacy study, demonstrating that Euflexxa (1%  sodium hyaluronate) was effective at decreasing the pain of knee  osteoarthritis compared to saline after 26 weeks, at the annual meeting  of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, held in Las Vegas,  Nevada.

The multicenter, 26-week, randomized, double-blind trial compared  Euflexxa and intra-articular buffered saline for level of pain following  a 50-Foot Walk Test, measured by 100 mm visual analog scale. The 586  patients with chronic idiopathic knee OA were randomized to treatment  with either product in a 1:1 ratio. Each patient received one weekly  injection for three weeks with nine follow-up visits over 26 weeks after  the first injection.

The Euflexxa group showed an advantage over saline in pain reduction,  with a larger mean decrease from baseline in pain scores: -25.7 (28.9)  mm versus -18.5(32.5) mm respectively, with a least squares means of  -6.6mm (p=0.002). At 26 weeks, 145 (58%) of Euflexxa subjects reported a  greater than or equal to 20-mm improvement in pain based on the VAS  scoring, compared with 120 (46%) in the other group (p=0.006). The  percentage of Osteoarthritis Research Society International responders  for the Euflexxa group was also significantly greater than that in the  control group (67% vs 59% (p=0.047).