Gevokizumab fails Phase III trial for Beh�et's uveitis- XOMA + Servier

XOMA Corporation announced the Phase III EYEGUARD-B study of gevokizumab in patients with Behçet's disease uveitis, run by its partner Servier did not meet the primary endpoint of time to first acute ocular exacerbation. "Although the study did not achieve its main objective, we did see signals of drug activity such as preserved visual acuity, less severe ocular exacerbations and a reduced incidence of reported macular edema in patients treated with gevokizumab," said Paul Rubin MD, Senior Vice President Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer. "We will continue to work closely with our partner, Servier, and uveitis experts to conduct a thorough analysis of the data to fully understand gevokizumab's impact on several clinically relevant endpoints."

Comment: The average time to first exacerbation was 119 days in the treatment arm and 95 days for placebo, an improvement but not statistically significant.

Comment:ZOMA has its own Phase III trial EYEGUARD-US for Bechets disease uveitis ongoing in the US.