Lilly’s Zepbound and Taltz improve psoriasis symptoms, drive weight loss in study

Feb 18 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly said on Wednesday its weight-loss drug, Zepbound, used with psoriasis treatment Taltz, showed better results in patients with the skin disease and obesity in a late-stage study, compared to Taltz alone.

The drugs showed greater improvement in skin symptoms and weight loss in the study that had 274 patients. About 27.1% of patients who had received Taltz and Zepbound reached complete skin clearance and at least 10% weight loss, compared to 5.8% of patients treated with Taltz alone at 36 weeks, meeting the main goal.

Psoriasis is a chronic condition that causes itchy, scaly patches on the skin.

Nearly all trial participants had psoriasis affecting sensitive areas such as the face, scalp or genitals, which are typically hard to treat, Lilly said.

In the U.S., about 61% of people with psoriasis also have obesity or are overweight with at least one weight-related co-morbidity, Lilly said.

Adverse events during the study were generally mild to moderate, Lilly said, adding that detailed results from the trial will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and discussed with regulators.

In another late-stage study, 31.7% of patients who received Taltz plus Zepbound met the main goal of the study of at least a 50% reduction in psoriatic arthritis disease activity and at least 10% weight loss after 36 weeks. That compared with 0.8% of patients who took Taltz alone and met the same combined outcome.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)