Use of Mobic Approved for Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Use of Mobic Approved for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Mon Aug 9, 2004 11:50 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim on Monday said

U.S. regulators had widened the approved use of its arthritis drug to

include treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The drug, called Mobic, was launched in the United States in 2000 for

treatment of osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis in which

joints are damaged by wear and tear.

The privately held company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has

now approved the pill to treat and manage rheumatoid arthritis, the

less-common hereditary form of arthritis that affects an estimated 2 million

Americans.

Unlike osteoarthritis, it is a hereditary condition in which the body's own

immune system becomes overactive and attacks joints, causing potentially

crippling damage.

Like aspirin and the widely used arthritis treatment naproxen, Mobic is a

non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) -- and can therefore cause

ulcers and dangerous bleeding without warning if used with chronic use.

For that reason, the FDA said patients should take doses of Mobic no greater

than 15 milligrams once daily. Higher doses of the drug, whose chemical is

meloxicam, have been linked to increased risk of bleeding.

The Boehringer drug will compete with a wide range of NSAIDs, including a

trio of medicines designed to minimize bleeding risk -- Pfizer Inc.'s sister

drugs Celebrex and Bextra and Merck & Co. Inc.'s Vioxx.

Boehringer co-markets Mobic with Abbott Laboratories Inc., a drugmaker based

in suburban Chicago.