Bristol-Myers Squibb announces EU approval of ORENCIA

Bristol-Myers Squibb announced this week that its moderate to severe Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (pJIA) treatment ORENCIA (abatacept) has been granted approval for use in combination with methotrexate.

The therapy is indicated for use in children aged six and over who have failed to respond sufficiently to one or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), such as MTX or tumour necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists.4

ORENCIA, which has yet to be studied in younger children, is designed to act early in the immune cascade by selectively modulating T-cells to reduce downstream inflammatory responses, the firm highlighted.

A previous double-blind, randomised controlled study found that the drug allowed children to miss fewer school days due to their condition.

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, the company announced last month that its split-off of Mead Johnson Nutrition – one of the firm’s subsidiaries – has now been completed.

As a result of this, Mead Johnson will be reported as a discontinued operation for the 2009 financial year.