But when etanercept was first evaluated in JIA, the bar was raised dramatically, with 80% of patients achieving an ACR pediatric 30 response.
“Now we're talking about ACR 70s and 90s, and in the adalimumab study we even had 30% reaching ACR 100,” he said.
“With an ACR 70 response, patients report that the disease impacts their life only intermittently, maybe a few days each month, and with an ACR 90 the disease is almost nonexistent—they can do everything kids want to do.
“I don't know what an ACR 100 feels like to patients—it's so new I've never asked anyone to describe it,” he said.
Decisions on approval for the two drugs are expected in the first quarter of 2008, he said.
Dr. Lovell disclosed that he has received consulting fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Abbott Laboratories.