Savient’s Puricase: a plan for untreatable Gout
Savient Pharmaceuticals has issued a press release (1/31/06) regarding their status on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Buried in that release is the revelation of what they consider to be a very promising med currently under development.
From the release:
The Company’s lead product development candidate, Puricase(R), for the treatment of refractory gout has reported positive Phase 1 and 2 clinical data.
The term refractory means that this is intended for patients whose Gout has proven to be treament-resistant.
Furthermore, apparently the drug was discussed by Savient at a medical conference last november. At that conference, they revealed to doctors present that in at least one study case, a patient’s Tophi were dissolved by Puricase treatment. This is still anecdotal at this point, but surprising and exciting as well.
There is a question as to whether Puricase will be appropriate for vegans, orthodox jews or muslims as a swine-derived compound is part of the formula for Puricase - namely Porcine Uricase.
