Biogen Idec and Abbott Announce Positive Top-Line Results from the First Registrational Trial for Daclizumab HYP in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis
SELECT Study Demonstrates Significant Reductions in Annualized Relapse Rate and Meets Key Secondary Endpoints
Biogen Idec and Abbott announced positive top-line results from SELECT, a global, registrational Phase 2b clinical trial designed to evaluate the investigational compound daclizumab high-yield process (DAC HYP) in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) over one year. Results showed that DAC HYP, administered subcutaneously once every four weeks, significantly reduced annualized relapse rate by 54 percent in the 150 mg dose arm (p< 0.0001) and 50 percent in the 300 mg dose arm (p=0.0002) compared to the placebo arm at one year. DAC HYP met key secondary endpoints for the 150 mg and 300 mg arms, respectively, providing a highly statistically significant reduction in the cumulative number of new gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) lesions between weeks eight and 24 (69%; 78%); in the number of new or newly enlarging T2 hyperintense lesions at one year (70%; 79%); and in the reduction in the proportion of patients who relapsed (55%; 51%). DAC HYP also showed a trend toward improvement in quality of life measures at one year.
The SELECT trial also investigated DAC HYP’s effect on disability progression as measured by the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) as a tertiary endpoint. Findings showed that DAC HYP reduced the risk of sustained disability progression at one year by 57 percent in the 150 mg dose arm and by 43 percent in the 300 mg dose arm compared to placebo. Additional analyses are ongoing and the companies anticipate presenting detailed data at an upcoming medical meeting.
“The exciting results for DAC HYP, along with previous clinical data, support our continued investigation of this candidate as a promising new approach to treating multiple sclerosis,” said Doug Williams, Ph.D., Biogen Idec’s Executive Vice President of Research and Development. “DAC HYP’s convenient once-monthly, subcutaneous administration, combined with a strong efficacy profile, suggest that it may provide an attractive option for MS patients. We hope to confirm the results of SELECT in our second registrational trial, DECIDE.”
“These results bring us one step closer in the development of a potential new treatment option for multiple sclerosis, an area of medicine where there continues to be a significant need for novel approaches for patients," said Eugene Sun, M.D., Vice President, Global Pharmaceutical Clinical Development, Abbott. "We look forward to continued analysis of the SELECT data and the opportunity to present these results in full context at an upcoming scientific forum."
In the SELECT trial, the overall incidence of adverse events and treatment discontinuations were similar in all study arms. Serious infections (2% versus 0%), serious cutaneous events (1% versus 0%) and liver function test abnormalities greater than five times the upper limit of normal (4% versus <1%) occurred more frequently in DAC HYP-treated patients than in the placebo group. There was one death in SELECT due to a complication of a psoas muscle abscess in a patient recovering from a serious skin adverse event and one in the ongoing dose blinded extension study (SELECTION) due to possible autoimmune hepatitis; a contributory role for DAC HYP in these events could not be excluded.
In addition to SELECT, DAC HYP is being studied in a Phase 3 registrational clinical trial called DECIDE, which is currently enrolling patients. DECIDE is evaluating the efficacy and safety of once-monthly subcutaneous DAC HYP as a monotherapy compared to interferon beta 1-a therapy over two to three years of treatment.
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