['ankylosing spondyloarthritis']
['secukinumab', 'placebo']

        Inclusion Criteria:

        Male or non-pregnant, non-lactating female patients at least 18 years of age

        Diagnosis of moderate to severe AS with prior documented radiologic evidence (x-ray or
        radiologist's report) fulfilling the Modified New York criteria for AS:

          -  Active AS assessed by BASDAI ≥4 (0-10) at Baseline

          -  Spinal pain as measured by BASDAI question #2 ≥ 4 cm (0-10 cm) at Baseline

          -  Total back pain as measured by VAS ≥ 40 mm (0-100 mm) at Baseline Patients should have
             had inadequate response or failure to respond to at least 2 NSAIDs at an approved dose
             for a minimum of 4 weeks in total and a minimum of 2 weeks for each NSAID prior to
             randomization, or less than 4 weeks if therapy had to be withdrawn due to intolerance,
             toxicity or contraindications Patients who are regularly taking NSAIDs (including
             COX-1 or COX-2 inhibitors) as part of their AS therapy are required to be on a stable
             dose for at least 2 weeks before randomisation Patients who have been on a TNFα
             inhibitor (not more than one) must have experienced an inadequate response to previous
             or current treatment given at an approved dose for at least 3 months prior to
             randomization or have been intolerant to at least one administration of an anti-TNFα
             agent

        Exclusion Criteria:

          -  Chest X-ray or MRI with evidence of ongoing infectious or malignant process

               -  Patients taking high potency opioid analgesics

               -  Previous exposure to secukinumab or any other biologic drug directly targeting
                  IL-17 or IL-17 receptor

               -  Pregnant or nursing (lactating) women
      