Over the years, researchers of drug companies have been eagerly investing their time and efforts in creating the best drug for gout. In fact, many different drugs have been produced for that purpose. However, most if not all of them do not provide the cure for this disease. Curing gout can be a very hard quest because the nature of such disease is metabolic. But through the efforts of a few, we are provided with drugs which can give gout sufferers with other treatment options.
Recently, the drug canakinumab (Ilaris) has provided hope for gout sufferers. Though still on its experimental phase, this drug has shown so much promise. In fact, it was able to provide more relief compared to well-established gout medications according to an article detailing the said study. An article entitled “BSR: Canakinumab Tames Gout Flares” published on medpagetoday.com mentions the progress of the study on canakinumab as a gout treatment medication. The following sections are excerpts from the said article.
The monoclonal antibody canakinumab (Ilaris) provided rapid pain relief in acute flares of gout in patients with difficult-to-treat disease, according to results of a randomized trial reported here.
In the month-long trial of 200 gout patients, 78% of those receiving the highest dose of canakinumab achieved 75% or more reduction in pain by 72 hours, and 96% had at least a 50% reduction in pain, according to Alexander So, MD, of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, and colleagues.
In contrast, only 45% of those assigned to triamcinolone acetonide had a 75% reduction in gout pain by 72 hours and 61% had a 50% reduction, So reported during an oral presentation at the annual meeting of the British Society for Rheumatology here.
Results of a phase III study of canakinumab for acute flares of gout will be presented at the annual meeting of the European League Against Rheumatism next month, So added.
Though it is still very early to get every gout sufferer’s hope up, it’s great to look forward to the development of this new drug. Aside from the lifestyle changes you can engage in to reduce the risk or development of gout; it’s reassuring to acknowledge that we will be seeing a new drug for gout in the years to come. Who knows we might be really close to discovering the ultimate cure for gout. Still, we have years to count.