Gout Research to be Presented at American College of Rheumatology Meeting

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals recently announced they will be presenting multiple posters about gout at the 2017 American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals

Annual Meeting, according to a press release.

Gout is a common form of inflammatory arthritis and is caused by hyperuricemia. While some treatments can lower serum uric acid (sUA) levels in the blood, approximately 2 million Americans have uncontrolled disease, despite treatment with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, according to the release. Since gout is a hereditary disease, diet and lifestyle changes are not enough to lower sUA levels.

The posters include findings from a survey of rheumatologists and physicians in the United States and the European Union about gout. The researchers asked the physicians about the number of patients with gout treated with allopurinol monotherapy who reach their treatment goals.

The investigators discovered that less than 50% of patients with gout achieved sUA levels of <6-mg/dL, regardless of dose. The study indicated that patients treated with high-dose allopurinol were not more likely to achieve this, according to the release.

“Data to be presented at ACR reinforce the high unmet need in uncontrolled gout, with an estimated two million patients in the US taking allopurinol alone who are not achieving target serum uric acid levels,” said Christopher Wright, MD, PhD, senior vice president of global development and chief development officer at Ironwood.

Ironwood also plans to present multiple other posters discussing issues such as the long-term health consequences of gout, and the link between uncontrolled gout and diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease.