SERONO ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF RAPTIVA TRIAL AT LONDON MEETING

Serono has announced data from its CLEAR trial, presented at the 14th European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology Congress in London.

The multicenter, multinational CLEAR trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of Raptiva in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Extended treatment of Raptiva patients who did not attain PASI 75 response with 12 weeks of therapy resulted in maintenance and improvement of response. Notably, among the Raptiva patients who showed improvement after 12 weeks, nearly half had attained a PASI 75 response at the end of extended treatment.

Among Raptiva patients who had a PGA rating of "good" at week 12, 43.9 percent had attained a rating of "excellent" or "cleared" by the end of the extended 24-week treatment period. The safety profile of Raptiva in this study was consistent with previous experience, and no new safety concerns were identified with continued treatment or retreatment. There were no reports of demyelinating disorders, pancytopenia, tuberculosis or congestive heart failure.