Results from the EVOLUTION clinical trials showed evobrutinib did not meet its primary endpoint of annualised relapse rate for up to 156 weeks compared to oral teriflunomide in both studies
In two Phase III trials, evolutionRMS 1 and evolutionRMS 2, the compound known as evobrutinib failed to beat Sanofi’s established Aubagio in reducing MS relapse rates, Merck said in a statement on 5th December 2023.
Merck was seen as ahead of Sanofi, Novartis and Roche in efforts to develop more MS drugs targeted at Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors. It is designed to more selectively block the cells that drive the harmful autoimmune reaction behind MS.
The company will complete a full evaluation of the data from the clinical trials and will work with investigators on the future presentation and publication of the results.
In this podcast, Expert Patient Dominic Shadbolt from www.themsguide.com talks to Aaron Boster about the nuances of trials, what this means to the other companies who have BTKs in Phase 3 trial development (Roche, Sanofi) and why it isn’t the end for either evobrutinib or the class as a whole.
