UCB, Immunomedics drug shows promise for lupus

Thursday, August 27, 2009

LONDON/BRUSSELS, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Immunomedics became the second biotech company in just over a month to report success in the fight against lupus on Thursday, sending its shares more than 50 percent higher.

Immunomedics and Belgium's UCB, which bought rights to the U.S. firm's lupus medicine epratuzumab three years ago, said the drug's treatment advantage over placebo reached 24.9 percent after 12 weeks of therapy in a Phase IIb clinical trial.

The study analysed the drug's impact on a number of measures of disease activity.

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