Chugai has published positive data from a clinical study of a new specification for the rheumatoid arthritis drug RoActemra.

A subcutaneous injection of the compound has been assessed in a phase III trial, comparing its performance to an intravenous infusion method.

It was found that the new administration method was able to meet its primary goal of displaying non-inferiority in safety and efficacy terms compared to intravenous infusion after an initial 24-week period.

The company now hopes to use this data to secure regulatory approval of the subcutaneously-delivered drug next year.

RoActemra, which is marketed under the name Actemra in Japan and the US, was created by Chugai in association with Osaka University and is co-developed with Roche internationally.

In May 2011, the companies published study data showing the clinical benefits of the drug when administered as a monotherapy, as opposed to in combination with methotrexate.