Savient Pharmaceuticals has found a new drug that may be used to treat serious cases of gout, a disease characterized by excruciating, unexpected, burning pain, as well as redness, warmth and stiffness in the affected joint. The drug, called pegloticase, helped remove uric acid, which causes the painful crystals that are deposited on the articular cartilage of joints, tendons and surrounding tissues.

During the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, the company presented data from five studies the pegloticase Phase 2 study, GOUT 1 and 2 studies (Gout Outcomes and Uric Acid Treatment) and 3, and a 12-month non-interventional natural history study in treatment-failure gout patients.

While the drug proved to be effective in treating patients with long-term gout who have not responded well to other treatments, the side effects weren’t “favourable” for Puricase, analysts said. The eight adverse effects included two cardiac arrests and one myocardial infarction, or heart attack, but researchers couldn’t say definitely they were caused by pegloticase. The company stated that patients with cardiovascular serious adverse events were able to continue successfully treatment. None of the event was thought to be casually related to treatment with pegloticase.

Gout, also called metabolic arthritis, affects approximately 1 in 40 people worldwide. An estimated 2 million to 3 million in the U.S. have the condition.

“There hasn't been a new drug for gout in the U.S. for over 40 years,” said Dr. John Sundy, a rheumatologist at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina and lead-author of the study.

The company is planning to file Biologics License Application with the FDA by the end of this month.