Key clinical point: Topical capsaicin was associated with a reduction in pain scores in patients with knee OA, with a 5% concentration showing a greater effect and significantly longer duration of response, compared with 1% concentration and placebo.

Major finding: There was a 46.2% reduction in Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index pain scores from baseline for patients using CGS-200-5, compared with a 28.3% reduction in the vehicle group (P = .02).

Study details: A phase 2, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, vehicle-controlled trial of 120 patients with knee OA who used topical capsaicin 5%, capsaicin 1%, or vehicle for 4 consecutive days and then were followed for up to 90 days post treatment.

Disclosures: Four authors in addition to Mr. Warneke reported being employees of Vizuri Health Sciences, the company developing CGS-200-5. One author reported being a former consultant for Vizuri. Three authors reported they were current or former employees of CT Clinical Trial & Consulting, a contract research organization employed by Vizuri to execute and manage the study, perform data analysis, and create reports.