New Gout Drug
February 1, 2009 by admin
Finally something new in the drug community for us long forgotten
Gout Sufferers. That is if you want to sit for two hours with a needle
in your vein every two weeks for a year. But, as we know we’d do anything to get rid of the pain.
Puricase, First New Drug Treatment Approach For Gout In 40 Years, Could Potentially Revolutionise Treatment For Some
The first new class of drug to emerge in 40 years for treating chronic gout has the potential to radically alter the outlook for thousands of patients unable to benefit from currently available therapies, says the drug’s developer Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. who presented Phase II data at this year’s annual meeting of the European rheumatology community, EULAR.Puricase (PEG-Uricase), a drug currently in Phase III clinical trials has been shown in smaller trials to rapidly eliminate body stores of excess uric acid (urate). Uric acid can lead to the formation of crystals which are deposited in joint tissues where they accumulate as tophi causing pain and inflammation. Often these clump together to form disfiguring nodules. Gout has been described as the most painful of all rheumatological conditions.Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc, the small New Jersey-based company developing the treatment says Puricase is a polyethylene-glycolated recombinant version of the porcine enzyme, uricase. All mammals except humans and primates produce the uricase enzyme which breaks down uric acid leaving very low levels in the blood circulation with no untoward effects. Uricase converts uric acid to the more water-soluble metabolite allantoin that can be readily excreted.The drug is administered by two-hour intravenous infusions every two or four weeks and would probably be indicated initially for patients with hyperuricaemia – excess blood levels of uric acid resulting in severe tophaceous gout, resistant to or intolerant of conventional therapy.
The drug is administered by two-hour intravenous infusions every two orfour weeks and would probably be indicated initially for patients withhyperuricaemia – excess blood levels of uric acid resulting in severetophaceous gout, resistant to or intolerant of conventional therapy.
Many physicians and patients believe older therapies are sub optimal and want better treatments, commented Dr Horowitz. Early intervention with Puricase as an alternative to conventional therapy could potentially prevent the accumulation of uric acid crystals that form tophi and keep patients from experiencing flares, he suggested. However, this would have to be the topic of further investigations. Puricase would need to be administered over six to 12 months only to eradicate body stores of uric acid. Because uric acid stores take decades to build up to the level where they cause symptoms, no further treatment might be needed. Most gout therapies however need to be taken regularly for life.
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