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Joint relief

Celltech, the UK-based biotech firm, has tested a new drug against rheumatoid arthritis. Thegeneti- cally engineered drugCDP 571, is based on a synthetic antibody. The antibody blocks the action of the protein that attacks the joints of rheumatoid arthritis sufferers ( The Eastern Phannacist, Vo138, No 453). When tried on 36 patients, the ~drug mitigated the pain of affected joints and slowed the disease's progression just after eight weeks' treatment.

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