The experimental lupus drug anifrolumab impressed in a mid-stage clinical trial, reducing disease activity greatly and showing much promise for its maker, AstraZeneca, and its bottom line.
AstraZeneca announced Tuesday that anifrolumab was more effective than sifalimumab, a similar anti-lupus drug it was testing. As such, it has started a 300 mg dose of the new drug in a final-stage trial. So far, the only other new drug launched for lupus in the past six decades was GlaxoSmithKline’s Benlysta. This highlights the difficulty involved in dealing with lupus, a disease that has the immune system attacking one’s organs and joints.
Anifrolumab, which is administered to patients intravenously, differs from Benlysta, as it targets interferon, a protein that facilitates inflammation. It is designed specifically for patients with moderate to severe cases of lupus, and so far, it has produced a response in over 50 percent of patients in 300 mg doses, after 169 days of treatment. This is up from earlier test results that showed the drug producing a response in only 34.4 percent of patients. All told, AstraZeneca believes that its new drug has the “most robust effects” against lupus in mid-stage clinical studies.
Like with many other drugs,there is a risk to taking anifrolumab. More patients reported getting shingles (Herpes zoster) and the flu, though AstraZeneca’s biotech unit MedImmune noted that these conditions are easily treated with antiviral medication.
In addition to anifrolumab’s potential in curing lupus with more efficacy than existing forms of treatment, the drug was also cited as a potential money maker for AstraZeneca. Last year, as the company defended itself against a possible Pfizer takeover, AstraZeneca had cited the potential of anifrolumab to generate, at some point, annual sales to the tune of about $1 billion.