NEW ORLEANS — An antibody treatment developed by the Belgian drugmaker Argenx raised platelet counts and stopped bleeding episodes in patients with a rare autoimmune disorder that causes the body to attack and destroy its own blood-clotting platelets.
The clinical trial results represent a potentially new and more effective way of treating adults with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), a debilitating condition that, when severe and uncontrolled, can force patients to have their spleen removed.