Inflammatory biomarkers for predicting responsiveness to fgf-18 compound

A method for selecting a subject having a cartilage disorder for inclusion in or exclusion from a specific dosing regimen when said subject is to be treated with an FGF-18 compound, based on the likelihood of their sensitivity to said treatment, comprising the steps of:

• a) determining, from a sample from said subject, the quantity of at least one of the biomarkers selected from the group consisting of C1M, C3M and/or CRPM;
• wherein the quantity of at least one of these proteins is predictive about the subject's risk of having good-sensitivity (or sensitivity) or low-sensitivity to said treatment, and
• b) selecting the appropriate dosing regimen according to the subject's risk of having good-sensitivity or low-sensitivity to said treatment,
• wherein said appropriate dosing regimen is at least two treatment cycles of 100 μg of FGF-18 compound given once per week for 3 consecutive weeks per treatment cycle.

A method for treating a subject having a cartilage disorder with an FGF-18 compound, comprising the following steps:

• a) determining, from a sample obtained from said subject, the quantity of at least one of the biomarkers selected from the group consisting of C1M, C3M and/or CRPM, wherein said quantities are predictive about the subject's risk of having good or low sensitivity to a treatment with said FGF-18 compound;
• and
• b) administering intraarticularly the FGF-18 compound in a dosing regimen of:
• i) at least two treatment cycles of 100 μg of FGF-18 compound given once per week for 3 consecutive weeks per treatment cycle if the subject has lower than 30.0±2SD ng/mL of C1M and/or lower than 12.0±2SD ng/mL of C3M and/or lower than 10.0±2SD ng/mL of CRPM;
• or
• ii) four treatment cycles of 100 μg of FGF-18 compound given once per week for 3 consecutive weeks per treatment cycle if the subject has higher than 30.0±2SD ng/mL of C1M and/or higher than 12.0±2SD ng/mL of C3M and/or higher than 10.0±2SD ng/mL of CRPM.