A clinical trial in the United States will investigate the safety and efficacy of gevokizumab for the treatment of patients with Behcet’s disease uveitis.
Behcet’s disease causes chronic vasculitis and left without treatment, can lead to retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage, glaucoma and eventually, blindness.
The Eyeguard-US trial will be undertaken by biotechnology company Xoma. Twenty-eight patients will be administered gevokizumab, in an open-label trial. Those who respond to gevokizumab by day 28 will be randomly assigned in a 1:1, double-masked to either gevokizumab 60 mg or placebo. The treatment will be administered subcutaneously once a month and Xoma states, the study’s primary endpoint is the time to first ocular exacerbation following randomisation.
“Opening Eyeguard-US is a crucial step in our strategy to pursue Behçet’s disease uveitis as our first indication for gevokizumab in the U.S.,” said John Varian, Chief Executive Officer of XOMA.
