New drug may treat gout, researchers say

WASHINGTON - A new drug that imitates a blood-clearing enzyme missing in humans appears to treat serious cases of gout safely, US researchers reported yesterday.

The Savient Pharmaceuticals drug, called pegloticase, helped remove uric acid, which causes the painful, needle-like crystals that will clump around fingers, toes, and other joints in the condition.

A phase III trial of the drug - the last stage of human testing before a company can seek US Food and Drug Administration approval - showed that uric acid levels fell to target levels among all patients who got it within six hours after being intravenously infused with the drug.

One infusion kept levels down for at least six months in 40 percent of the patients, the researchers told a meeting in San Francisco of the American College of Rheumatology.

"There hasn't been a new drug for gout in the US for over 40 years," Dr. John Sundy, a rheumatologist at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina who led the study, said in a statement.

The infusions were not without side effects, which included back or chest pain, chills, nausea, and headaches.

REUTERS