Positive results from XOMA 052 study in patients with uveitis of Behcet's disease

XOMA Ltd. (Nasdaq:XOMA), a leader in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies, announced additional positive results from an open-label pilot study of XOMA 052 in patients with uveitis of Behcet's disease who were suffering from vision-threatening exacerbations despite maximal doses of immunosuppressive medicines. XOMA 052, a therapeutic antibody designed to inhibit the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) is designated as an orphan drug for the treatment of Behcet's disease by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. The new data presented at the 2010 American College of Rheumatology Scientific meeting include effects of XOMA 052 retreatment on uveitis exacerbations and analysis of serum cytokine levels.

As previously reported, all seven patients with Behcet's disease enrolled in the XOMA 052 trial displayed rapid reduction of intraocular inflammation and improvement in visual acuity or other ophthalmic measures following a single treatment with XOMA 052. The new results demonstrated that each of the five patients re-treated with XOMA 052 due to a recurring uveitis exacerbation responded again to XOMA 052 treatment and maintained their response for several months. Further, cytokine data showed, as compared to baseline, reduced levels of IL-1 beta, IL-1 alpha and IL-6 and increased levels of interferon gamma. The increase in interferon gamma is important because of the protective effects of this cytokine against infection.

Presentation information: Safe, Rapid-Onset and Sustained Biological Activity of IL-1 beta Regulating Antibody XOMA 052 in Resistant Uveitis of Behcet's Disease: Results of a Pilot Trial; Abstract # 1308, American College of Rheumatology