Phase II Data for Apremilast in Behçet's Disease Published in The New England Journal of Medicine

Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) today announced that results from a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled phase II trial (BCT-001) of apremilast (Otezla®) in patients with Behçet's disease were published in the April 16 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. Behçet's disease is a rare, chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcers, which are considered a hallmark of the disease. Joint inflammation and recurrent skin and eye lesions may also occur. "Painful oral ulcers due to Behçet's disease are the hallmark of the condition and can have a significant impact on the lives of many patients. Currently used drugs for this condition may not control oral or genital ulcers in some patients or have potential adverse events that may limit their use," said Gulen Hatemi, M.D., Associate Professor, Cerrahpasa Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey. "The publication of these phase II data in The New England Journal of Medicine is critical to disseminating the findings to the healthcare professional community, to keep them informed of the latest developments in research on this rare, chronic disease." Findings from this study, including the primary endpoint (reduction in mean number of oral ulcers following 12 weeks of treatment), were initially presented at the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) annual meetings in 2013 (P