The 2011 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Meeting will be held in Chicago from November 5-9, 2011. This pre-meeting planner lists some key oral and poster presentations during the meeting. Some key topics to follow:

• Tofacitinib (PFE) for rheumatoid arthritis. Inhibition of the JAK/STAT pathway is a promising target area being developed for a range of indications including RA and myelofibrosis, and tofacitinib is the most clinically advanced of several JAK3 inhibitors for RA. Updated data should be provided from several of the Phase III studies in the large ORAL clinical trial program. The trials are evaluating tofacitinib as both monotherapy and in combination with other DMARDs, and the data have been generally positive.
• AIN457 (NVS) for psoriatic arthritis (PA). Top-line results are expected from the Phase III trial evaluating AIN457 (secukinumab), an antibody inhibitor of IL-17. Only limited Phase II proof-of-concept data have been released so far, so these results could be the first quantitative indication of AIN457 efficacy for PA. Phase II data of AIN457 for rheumatoid arthritis indicated an efficacy trend with increasing doses but did not reach statistical significance over placebo. Nevertheless, Phase III studies have begun in RA as well. Thus, the data presented at the meeting could have implications for AIN457 in both PA and RA as well as in psoriasis for which Phase III studies have also been initiated.
• LY2439821 (LLY) for rheumatoid arthritis. LY2439821 is another IL-17 inhibitor, and positive top-line results from a Phase II study should be presented for patients who are naïve to biologic DMARD therapy and for non-responders to TNF inhibitors. Development trails AIN457 in RA, although Phase III studies are anticipated to start by the end of 2011.
• Fostamatinib (AZN) for rheumatoid arthritis. Long-term safety data will be presented from the TASKi2 study evaluating patients from the Phase II TASK clinical program. Six-month data were published previously indicating some continued efficacy, but no safety data were disclosed. These data evaluate patients receiving up to 2 years of exposure to fostamatinib, and no new safety signals were identified setting the stage for the already initiated Phase III OSKIRA program.

If there are any additional talks, posters or topics you would like us to follow please inform your sales representative and we will add them to our list. Additionally, if you would like a copy of the schedule in Excel, please contact your sales representative at clientservices@pharmaintel.informa.com

For the full report, please download the PDF version at the top of this page.

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