UCI discovery part of successful arthritis drug trial

A new drug made from antibody compounds created by UC Irvine researchers Tom Lane and Hans Keirstead has successfully completed a phase II clinical trial for treating rheumatoid arthritis. The pharmaceutical company Medarex has licensed the antibodies, which block immune-system response, to create new treatments for autoimmunity diseases. Medarex will now enter the drug, called MDX-1100, into a large-scale phase III trial, which if successful will make the drug eligible for FDA approval and consumer use. Medarex also is testing a drug made from the UCI anti-IP-10 antibodies for treating ulcerative colitis. Lane and Keirstead created the antibodies earlier this decade for studies on autoimmunity response in multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.