June 21, 2010 (FinancialWire) — XOMA Ltd. (NASDAQ: XOMA) has released positive results from an open-label pilot study of XOMA 052 in patients with uveitis of Behcet's disease who were suffering from vision-threatening exacerbations despite maximal doses of immunosuppressive medicines.

All seven patients who enrolled in the trial displayed rapid reduction of intraocular inflammation and improvement in visual acuity or other ophthalmic measures following a single treatment with XOMA 052, a therapeutic antibody candidate that inhibits the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta). The preliminary results of the first clinical trial of XOMA 052 in patients with uveitis of Behcet's disease were presented at the Annual Congress of the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) in Rome, Italy.

Uveitis, or inflammation of the intraocular tissues of the eye, of Behcet's disease is one of the most severe forms of uveitis and affects approximately half of the patients with Behcet's disease. Unlike many forms of chronic uveitis, Behcet's uveitis is characterized by recurrent acute attacks or exacerbations. Without immediate treatment, major exacerbations of Behcet's uveitis may lead to retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage, glaucoma and eventual blindness. Symptoms include the accumulation of vitreous haze which can block eyesight or the loss of visual acuity and can manifest differently from patient to patient. For example, patients may go from 20/20 eyesight to loss of vision during the course of an exacerbation.

Behcet's (pronounced beh-CHETS) disease is an orphan disease that causes chronic inflammation of the blood vessels, or vasculitis. Major symptoms can affect the neurological, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems, and hallmarks of the disease include painful ulcers in the mouth and on the genitals. Behcet's disease most commonly affects men and women in their twenties, thirties and forties, and it is typically more severe in men. An estimated 5,000 to 15,000 patients in the United States have Behcet's, and the disease is more common in Turkey, eastern Mediterranean countries, Japan and Korea.

XOMA discovers, develops and manufactures novel antibody therapeutics for its own proprietary pipeline as well as through license and collaborative agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and under its contracts with the U.S. government.

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