Celgene continuing POSTURE trial despite primary endpoint miss

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG) said Otezla apremilast missed the primary endpoint in the 490-patient Phase III POSTURE trial to treat ankylosing spondylitis. The endpoint was an improvement in the proportion of patients achieving a 20% improvement in Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society criteria (ASAS20) response at week 16 vs. placebo.

The company is continuing the trial unchanged in all patients on the recommendation of an independent DMC. Celgene said a pre-specified DMC analysis of a "large subset of patients with early-stage disease" showed Otezla led to "meaningful efficacy" at week 24. ...