André Kahan, Daniel Uebelhart, Florent de Vathaire, Pierre Delmas and Jean-Yves Reginster
Long Term Effects of Chondroitins 4 and 6 Sulfate on Knee Osteoarthritis
The Study on Osteoarthritis Progression Prevention, a Two-Year, Randomized, Double-Blind
Placebo- Controlled Trial
Arthritis & Rheumatism - Vol. 60, No. 2, February 2009, pp. 524-533.
(See enclosed the press release).

The STOPP publication is the largest available study focused on the structure modifying activity of chondroitin sulfate: it has been recently published in the prestigious journal Arthritis & Rheumatism and it has been sponsored by a research grant by IBSA and Laboratoires Genévrier. 622 patients suffering from knee OA have been recruited in 5 EU countries and have been continuously treated once daily for two years with chondroitin 4&6 sulfate (highly purified CS from IBSA & Laboratoires Genévrier) 800 mg/day or Placebo (PBO). The primary efficacy criterion was the modification in the minimum joint space width (JSW) of the medial compartment of the target tibiofemoral joint. Besides such a meaningful result, the patients treated with CS also reported a rapid and long lasting improvement of pain that has also been highlighted by a decrease in the consumption of NSAIDs during the treatment.

Prof. André KAHAN (University of Paris Descartes and Cochin Hospital, Paris, France), lead investigator of the study, underlined the high quality of radiologic assessment. “The study provides clear evidence that the highly purified CS preparation used is not only a symptomatic slow-acting drug for osteoarthritis (SYSADOA), but also, and most importantly, a disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug (DMOAD).

"This CS preparation has been approved as a prescription treatment for OA in many European countries; for this reason, the results cannot be generalized to all CS products or compounds, as those available as dietary supplement in the US” he said. “In practical terms, pain is reduced, which has an obvious impact on patient’s quality of life; the structural effect of this well-tolerated treatment represents a significant advance in the management of knee osteoarthritis and a possibility to limit the increased economic burden of the disease” he concluded.