AbbVie, which sells the drug under the brand name Humira, paid for and was directly involved in the studies, known as PIONEER I and II. The drug is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and psoriasis.
No serious side effects were seen.
The tests were conducted at 101 sites in 14 countries. In PIONEER I, volunteers receiving oral antibiotic therapy had to stop treatment at least 28 days before baseline; in PIONEER II they did not.
“I can’t emphasize how important this is for this community that has had very little data-driven research and no previously approved drug,” said Dr. Kimball. “There’s a huge level of suffering – there’s pain, odor, disfigurement and lack of knowledge. This is the beginning, I think, of a real era of progress.”
Several of Dr. Kimball’s co-authors reported financial ties to AbbVie, including employment.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2aCUHoM; N Engl J Med 2016.