ASP015K at the EULAR 2013 Meeting

I thought very positively about ASP015K after the ACR 2013 meeting in Washington:
“ASP015K is an interesting small molecule as it may be efficacious against rheumatoid arthritis with less adverse events when compared to other small molecules. The data is preliminary and there’s still a long way to go. It would be nice, if Astellas Pharma could give the compound a name. Good luck from my side!”
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/12/asp015k-at-acr-2012-in-washington.html

Could ASP015K keep up with its’ aspirations at the EULAR 2013 meeting?

S. Yamazaki and colleagues presented a study [THU0101]: “ASP015K: a novel JAK inhibitor demonstrated potent efficacy in adjuvant-induced arthritis model in rats”. As I had already seen this study in Washington, I don’t want to comment on it again; please look up the above link.

J. Garg and colleagues presented a new phase 1 and 2 study [THU0227]: “Pooled analysis of clinical safety data for ASP015K, a novel JAK inhibitor in development for treatment of autoimmune diseases”. Conclusions: “ASP015K administered as single or multiple doses for up to 42 days was safe and well tolerated in HVs/pts in 13 phase 1 and 2 studies.”

T. Zhu and colleagues presented the following study [THU0256]: “Pharmacodynamics of ASP015K, a novel janus kinase inhibitor, in healthy volunteers.” Conclusions: “ASP015K showed dose- and concentration-dependent inhibition of STAT5-P. Total lymphocyte count showed no dose-dependent changes. A dose-dependent reduction in NK cells was seen with multiple doses. These results are consistent with the pharmacologic effect of JAK1/3 inhibition by ASP015K.” I’m a bit surprised that this study is presented now – I would have expected it at the ACR 2012, half a year ago.

T. Zhu and colleagues presented [AB0363]: “Coadministration of ASP015K, a novel janus kinase inhibitor, with methotrexate demonstrates tolerability and lack of pharmacokinetic interactions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis”. Please look it up on the ACR 2012 blogpost, mentioned above.

My positive impression dwindles considerably! I hope we’ll see results from a phase 2b study later this year. And if ASP015K doesn’t have a name by then, it might never get a name.