Efficacy of lumiracoxib in relieving pain associated with knee osteoarthritis: a 6‐week,randomized, double‐blind,parallel‐group study

Aim: The aim of the current study was to assess the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of lumiracoxib 200 mg once daily (o.d.) in relieving osteoarthritis (OA) knee pain in patients in China, Taiwan, and South Korea. Methods: Patients of either sex (aged ≥ 18 years) with symptomatic, primary OA of the knee for ≥ 3 months were eligible for inclusion if they had OA pain intensity of ≥ 40 mm (100 mm visual analogue scale [VAS]) in the target knee joint during the previous 24 h. Patients were required to undergo regular non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drug therapy for ≥ 6 weeks. After 3–7 days of screening, patients were randomized (1 : 1) to receive either lumiracoxib 200 mg o.d. or celecoxib 200 mg o.d. The primary efficacy comparison between the study groups was overall OA pain intensity (VAS) in the target knee after 6 weeks of treatment. Results: The mean overall OA pain intensity (VAS) in the target knee after 6 weeks decreased from 60.6 mm to 35.7 mm and 60.5 mm to 36.1 mm in the lumiracoxib and celecoxib groups, respectively. Both study groups showed similar results in terms of improvement in both patient's and physician's global assessment of disease activity and functional health status. The percentage of adverse events (AEs) in the lumiracoxib and celecoxib groups (40.3% and 37.9%, respectively) was similar, as was the proportion of treatment‐related AEs (21.0% and 18.2%, respectively). Conclusions: Lumiracoxib 200 mg o.d. provided effective and well‐tolerated pain relief similar to that achieved with celecoxib 200 mg o.d. in knee OA patients.