Pfizer Inc. said early Thursday that its Xeljanz drug met its primary endpoint in combination with methotrexate as compared to AbbVie’s blockbuster drug Humira, although it didn’t meet the primary endpoint on its own. The results of the phase 3B/4 trial, which lasted 12 months and enrolled about 1,150 patients, show Xeljanz’s efficacy as a combination therapy for moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, said Chief Development Officer Michael Corbo. Xeljanz has already been approved for rheumatoid arthritis in the U.S., but pharmaceutical companies have increasingly looked to efficacy data to show the value of their treatments relative to competitors’. Humira is the world’s top-selling drug. Pfizer shares have risen 4.9% over the last three months, compared with a 7.9% rise in the S&P 500 .
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