Pfizer Inc. announced positive results from a second Phase 3 study of etrasimod, an investigational, oral, once-a-day, selective sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator in development for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC), according to a news release.
In this 52-week study, also known as ELEVATE UC 52, etrasimod patients achieved statistically significant improvements in the co-primary endpoints of clinical remission at weeks 12 and 52 when compared to placebo. Statistically significant improvements were attained in all key secondary endpoints at both 12 and 52 weeks. Etrasimod demonstrated a safety profile consistent with previous studies, including the Phase 2 OASIS trial.
The global Phase 3 multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study enrolled 433 UC patients who had previously failed or were intolerant to at least one conventional, biologic, or Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor therapy. Participants received etrasimod 2 mg or placebo once daily. ELEVATE UC 52 utilized a treat-through design in which patients were eligible to continue with their randomized treatment independent of whether they reached the objective criteria of clinical response at week 12.
“For patients suffering with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, these most recent data further demonstrate the substantial potential benefits of this medicine and clearly confirm its ability to achieve significant induction of remission at 12 weeks and now clinical remission at week 52. These data underscore etrasimod’s potential, if approved, as a best-in-class therapy,” said Michael Corbo, Chief Development Officer, Inflammation & Immunology, Pfizer Global Product Development. “Etrasimod can potentially provide a new, once-daily, oral option with a rapid onset of action and without first dose titration. Further, we believe the treat-through design of the ELEVATE UC 52 study more accurately reflects a real-world treatment approach than the re-randomization design often used in UC clinical trials.”
These data, along with results from ELEVATE UC 12 and the long-term extension from these two trials (ELEVATE UC OLE), are expected to form the basis for planned future regulatory filings. Pfizer expects to initiate regulatory filings later this year.
