Roche reports positive data from comparative RoActemra trial

Roche has published positive new data from a comparative study of RoActemra, its approved treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Results from the Adacta study have shown that RoActemra can deliver a significantly greater improvement in disease activity after 24 weeks compared to another leading treatment, when applied as a single-agent therapy.

It means that patients treated with Roche's drug can benefit from improvements in terms of joint pain and swelling, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and overall quality of life.

Differences across all endpoints were shown to be statistically significant, while adverse event profiles were comparable between the two treatment groups.

Dr Hal Barron, head of global product development and chief medical officer at Roche, said: "Since there are a number of therapies approved for patients with RA, it is important for them and their healthcare provider to have the information they need to choose the best individual treatment option."

This comes in the same week that Roche also published new data on its oncology product Avastin, demonstrating the benefits it offers to ovarian and metastatic colorectal cancer patients.