Children with Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis may get benefit from Canakinumab

Canakinumab (ACZ885), a new interleukin-1 (IL-1)-beta blocking monoclonal antibody, has the ability to hold promise for indicating efficacy and toleration in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA), according to a new phase II study presented at PReS 2009, a joint congress with the 2009 Congress of the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Dr Nicolino Ruperto, Senior Scientist of Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organization, Istituto Di Ricovero a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Children’s Hospital of Genova, Italy and study’s lead author, said that juvenile idiopathic arthritis is the common of all chronic inflammatory diseases of childhood and sJIA is the most severe subtype.

From Sciencedaily.com:

The observed time to relapse upon cessation of canakinumab therapy was variable, ranging from 1-12 weeks. The time to relapse was analysed using a frailty model with dose grouping – this included statistically significant baseline covariates such as CRP, WBC (white blood cell) count and steroid dose. The median time to relapse was 56 (95% CI: 32-100), 60 (38-95) and 90 (45-181) days for doses <3, 3, >3 mg/kg, with a 19% (95% CI: 6-41), 17% (6-34) and 7% (1-23) probability of relapse within one month, respectively.

Concurrent steroid use was tapered in 70% of responders. On average, the steroid dose was decreased by an average of 0.054 mg/kg per month in the first 5 months (95% CI: 0.013-0.121). Adverse events experienced by study participants were predominantly mild to moderate in severity, including infections and gastrointestinal disorders. Two serious adverse events (worsening nausea in a patient with a medical history of gastritis and EBV viral infection in another patient) relating to canakinumab, according to the investigator, were resolved during treatment.

Dr. Ruperto noted that canakinumab seems to have the ability to become an effective and fast-acting form of treatment method along with the benefit of having a promising safety profile.

Tags: Canakinumab, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, steroid, Steroid use

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