Crescendo Bioscience to Present New Data on Vectra® DA Use to Assess Radiographic Progression Risk in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Traditional and Biologic Therapies at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Meeting (EULAR)

Crescendo Bioscience, a molecular diagnostics company dedicated to developing and commercializing quantitative blood tests for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other auto-immune diseases, announced today that it will present data from ten different studies that further support the important role Vectra® DA can play in managing Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual Meeting held in Madrid, Spain, on June 12-15.  EULAR is the largest gathering of rheumatology healthcare professionals in Europe.  Vectra DA is an objective, validated blood test that provides rheumatologists with a score of 1-100, giving biological insight into the level of disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis.  Data presented at EULAR will demonstrate Vectra DA’s ability to assess risk of radiographic progression (joint damage over time) in patients with RA currently treated with traditional and biologic agents, including TNF inhibitors. In addition, data will show how Vectra DA can detect a high level of RA disease activity in patients with a low C-reactive protein (CRP) without being affected by fibromyalgia, a painful non-inflammatory condition that can co-exist with RA.

This week, researchers will present data from a study conducted by the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in Kitakyushu, Japan,  A Multi-biomarker Disease Activity (Vectra DA Algorithm) Score is Associated with Radiographic Outcomes in RA Patients Treated with TNF inhibitors (#SAT0012).  This study found that patients who were being treated with adalimumab, etanercept or infliximab and had a low Vectra DA score (29 or less) in at least two of three visits over one year showed little or no radiographic progression.  In contrast, patients with high scores (greater than 44) for at least two of three visits had a much higher risk of clinically relevant radiographic progression.  In addition, researchers found that change in the Vectra DA score over the first six months of treatment correlated with radiographic outcomes in the first year. This is the first time risk of radiographic progression in patients treated with TNF inhibitors was assessed using Vectra DA over time.

“We know that anti-TNF drugs have been shown to help minimize the overall amount of radiographic progression, said Yoshiya Tanaka, MD, PhD, Professor and Chairman, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.  “This study underscores the clinical utility of Vectra DA to objectively assess which patients remain at risk of radiographic progression despite anti-TNF therapy. This information could be important in helping rheumatologists confirm or potentially revise their treatment plan.”

“This study demonstrates the additional value Vectra DA can bring to the overall RA patient management experience, said Oscar Segurado, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer at Crescendo Bioscience. “With a number of RA drugs available today, and more than 50 agents in development, a quantifiable disease activity measurement test like Vectra DA can be a true asset for physicians.”

Researchers will also present new data regarding use of Vectra DA in patients with both RA and fibromyalgia.  In Application of a Multi-Biomarker Disease Activity (Vectra DA) Score for Assessing Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients with Low CRP or Fibromyalgia (#SAT0099), researchers from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School showed that in patients with RA, traditional methods of disease assessment, including tender joint count, DAS28-CRP, and Patient Global Assessment were markedly increased by the presence of fibromyalgia, a painful non-inflammatory syndrome that can confound the assessment of patients with RA. In contrast, the Vectra DA test measured essentially the same level of disease activity in patients with RA independent of the presence of fibromyalgia, which highlights the value of the objective nature of the test.

“Vectra DA provides additional information about disease activity that is not provided by other assessment tools such as C-reactive protein (CRP),” said Segurado. “This study showed that in patients with low CRP, nearly half had Vectra DA scores in the moderate to high disease activity range, indicating that their RA was actually more active than originally found with CRP.  This information will help physicians attain better insight to the underlying biology of the disease.”