BACKGROUND: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare disorder characterized by recurrent angioedema attacks. Ecallantide, a novel plasma kallikrein inhibitor, inhibits production of bradykinin, the key mediator of these angioedema attacks.
OBJECTIVE: We sought to further characterize the safety and efficacy of ecallantide for HAE attacks by performing an integrated analysis of pooled data from 2 phase 3 studies.
METHODS: An integrated analysis was conducted with data from 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in which patients with HAE (age >10 years) received 30 mg of subcutaneous ecallantide or placebo within 8 hours of onset of a moderate-to-severe attack at any anatomic site. Efficacy was evaluated by using validated patient-reported outcome measures: the Mean Symptom Complex Severity (MSCS) score and the Treatment Outcome Score (TOS).
RESULTS: Compared with placebo, ecallantide resulted in significantly greater reduction in MSCS scores from baseline to 4 hours after dosing (ecallantide [mean +/- SD], -0.97 +/- 0.78; placebo, -0.47 +/- 0.71; P < .001) and a significantly greater increase in TOSs at 4 hours (ecallantide, 55.5 +/- 46.5; placebo, 20.0 +/- 58.9; P < .001). Significantly greater symptomatic improvement over placebo occurred through 24 hours after dosing (MSCS score, P = .028; TOS, P = .039). Ecallantide demonstrated efficacy at all attack sites. The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events was similar between groups.
CONCLUSIONS: This integrated analysis supports and expands on the results of the phase 3 studies. Ecallantide appears to be effective and well tolerated for the treatment of HAE attacks.Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.
Available from: http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749%2811%2900375-7/fulltext