Novartis to present at EULAR long term analyses of Cosentyx (secukinumab) for treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis.

Novartis announced that it will present 33 scientific abstracts at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2016) in London, UK. This includes new long-term analyses suggesting Cosentyx (secukinumab) may lead to higher responses than Humira (adalimumab) in improving the signs and symptoms of people living with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) at 52 weeks.

These analyses are from two studies using the Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparisons (MAIC) method. MAIC is a valid and accepted method for comparative effectiveness research. To directly compare Cosentyx versus Humira, Novartis plans to initiate new head-to-head studies in patients with AS and PsA. These will be the first ever adequately powered long-term head-to-head studies with biologic medicines to differentiate the effectiveness of treatment in these conditions.

Also presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2016) were two-year data showing that up to 80% of AS patients on Cosentyx had no radiographic progression in the spine on x-ray assessment. A similar proportion of patients with PsA (84%), who were on Cosentyx for two years, also had no evidence of progression.