We would be interested to learn more about this new drug which is currently being used in a number of studies in the US and we understand that studies in the UK will commence soon. We searched for uveitis research on the Novartis site and came up with the following link http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00685399?term=novartis&cond=%22Uveitis%22&rank=8

We checked the MERSI website and found that a proof-of-concept study sponsored by Novartis, was carried out in MERSI in Boston US. The purpose of the study was to determine the safety of AIN457 in patients with uveitis and to investigate whether an antibody like AIN 457, which neutralizes the cytokine IL-17A, will safely reduce the intraocular inflammation associated with non-infectious uveitis. Data collected during Phase I of the trial is extremely promising and as a result, Novartis has amended the study protocol to allow more patients to enroll.

A multi-center, international placebo controlled study sponsored by Novartis to determine the difference in the rate of recurrent exacerbations in Behçet’s patients treated with AIN457 versus those given placebo or standard of care immunosuppressive therapy.

The study medication for this trial is identical to that of the Novartis AIN457 trial with the only difference being the delivery method. The preliminary proof of concept trial studying the AIN457 antibody yielded promising data and has resulted in new studies which target specific ocular inflammatory diseases such as Behçet’s.

It is possible that this drug may help people with Birdshot and we will keep a look out for updates about this.