Roche Holding is seeking to broaden the use of its arthritis drug Roactemra in both Europe and the United States to treat a type of childhood arthritis.
Roactemra, which is known as Actemra in the United States, is mainly targeted at rheumatoid arthritis, but a late-stage study showed it significantly improved symptoms of systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (sJIA), a form of the disease that can cause fever, rash and sore joints in children.
There are currently no approved therapies in the EU or the United States for this disease, which can also cause enlargement of the liver as well as inflammation of the lining of the heart and/or lungs, Roche said in a statement today.
This type of arthritis accounts for almost two-thirds of all deaths among children with arthritis and the peak age of onset is between 18 months and two years.
Reuters