Amevive Appears to Improve Patients' Psoriatic Arthritis in Phase II Study

Preliminary results of an ongoing Phase II study indicate that the psoriasis treatment Amevive provides clinical improvement for patients with active psoriatic arthritis.

In the study, 54 percent of patients who received Amevive (alefacept) for 12 weeks achieved an ACR 20 response, or at least a 20 percent improvement in the signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis, at 24 weeks.

The ACR score is a standard measure developed by the American College of Rheumatology to rate psoriatic arthritis disease improvement. Results of the study were presented by Biogen Idec at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.