Swiss drug maker Novartis announced a potential treatment for a severe form of juvenile arthritis at the 2011 European Pediatric Rheumatology Congress in Belgium.
The drug, which goes by the generic name canakinumab, did better than a placebo in a late-stage study measuring system improvements, the Associated Press reports.
Almost 84 percent of patients who took the compound, labeled ACZ885, experienced at least a 30 percent improvement in symptoms, the Associated Press reports. That compares with nearly 10 percent who took a placebo.
The study focused on patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a rare condition marked by possibly life-long and recurrent arthritis flares that can involve a skin rash, fever and joint pain and sweeting, according to the AP.
Canakinumab is approved in the U.S., the European Union and other markets as a treatment for cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes, a group of conditions including joint pain, rash, fever, and fatigue, the Associated Press reports.
