Combining Enbrel and Celebrex

Although Immunex Corp. shares dropped $9.31 last Monday in the wake of the New Year's Eve approval of G.D.Searle & Co.'s Celebrex celecoxib, IMNX believes its Enbrel etanercept soluble TNF inhibitor and the pharma company's COX-2 inhibitor will prove to be complementary in rheumatoid arthritis.

Celebrex, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), received FDA approval for the "relief of the signs and symptoms" of RA and osteoarthritis. By contrast, Enbrel was approved last year to treat moderately to severely active RA in patients with inadequate responses to disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, or in combination with methotrexate in patients who do not respond adequately to methotrexate alone...