Pfizer To Present 23 Abstracts At European League Against Rheumatism Congress

Pfizer Inc. PFE disclosed Wednesday that 23 abstracts1 would be featured at the upcoming European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Congress held June 8-11 in London. This included research and analyses for tofacitinib citrate (XELJANZ). According to the drug maker, the research being shared at the meeting offered fresh, as well as, additional information on the efficacy and safety profile of tofacitinib citrate. This included its use as a single agent without methotrexate.

Pfizer's Global Product Development Chief Development Officer, Michael Corbo, commented, "The research being presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2016) illustrates our continued commitment to improving care for patients living with chronic inflammatory conditions, like RA. Pfizer continues to advance the understanding of JAK science through the ongoing study of tofacitinib citrate, which has one of the largest RA clinical development programs with respect to the number of patients and patient years of exposure."

Similarly, clinical professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Roy Fleischmann, reacted to say, "The data being presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2016) provides important information to help guide physicians on treatment approaches for tofacitinib citrate in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). For years, combination therapy has been the standard of care for treating RA. However, the monotherapy data reinforces the use of tofacitinib citrate as an oral option for patients to manage their RA without the need for methotrexate."

The drug maker said Tofacitinib citrate is approved in over 45 countries throughout the world for the treatment of moderate to severe RA as a second-line therapy after failure of one or more disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

Pfizer said that Tofacitinib citrate isn't approved for use currently by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The company added that a marketing authorization application for tofacitinib citrate 5 mg BID is currently under review by the EMA for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe RA who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to methotrexate.