Closing in on rheumatoid arthritis

Immunex Corp. on Sunday presented positive data from a Phase III trial of its Enbrel soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, providing another round of evidence that TNF-alpha inhibition is an attractive strategy for treating RA.

IMNX plans to file a BLA for FDA approval in 1998, based on the results of this and other clinical studies. It's likely competition will be Centocor Inc.'s Avakine, another TNF inhibitor which is nearing the end of enrollment in its Phase III trial, with a BLA filing planned by year-end in Crohn's disease...