J&J’s oral skin disease drug meets main goals of late-stage study

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(Reuters) -Johnson & Johnson’s oral drug for a type of skin condition met the main goals of achieving clear or almost clear skin and reduction in patches in a late-stage trial, the drugmaker said on Monday.

The once-daily pill, icotrokinra, was tested in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, a skin condition that causes dry and itchy patches on the skin.

J&J has been betting on new treatments as its blockbuster psoriasis drug, Stelara, is looking at a patent cliff — which occurs when a company loses its patent protection, allowing cheaper biosimilars to enter the market.

Drugmakers such as AbbVie and J&J are hustling for a share in an already-crowded market for drugs that treat inflammatory diseases.

At week 16 of the trial, icotrokinra showed significant skin clearance in 64.7% of the patients and a reduction in severity of plaques in 49.6% of the participants, compared to 8.3% and 4.4% on placebo, respectively.

The drug works by targeting a protein involved in inflammatory responses called IL-23.

J&J is developing the drug with partner Protagonist Therapeutics, which is now eligible for a milestone payment of $165 million as a result of the trial outcomes.

Johnson & Johnson said it would begin a late-stage trial testing icotrokinra in psoriatic arthritis at the start of 2025.

In the United States, about 7.5 million people have psoriasis, out of which 80% to 90% cases are of plaque psoriasis — the most common type of the condition.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Shilpi Majumdar)