Pfizer’s eczema drug meets main goal in mid-stage trial, plans late-stage study

By Padmanabhan Ananthan

March 9 (Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Pfizer said on Monday its experimental drug for a chronic skin disease met the main goal in a mid-stage study.

Here are some details:

* The patients treated with the drug, tilrekimig, saw asignificant reduction in symptoms after 16 weeks and the drugwas well tolerated with a favorable safety profile in the study,Pfizer said. * The drug is currently being tested in patients withmoderate to severe atopic dermatitis or eczema, a skin diseasethat causes itching, widespread rashes and inflammation that candisrupt daily activities. * BMO analyst Evan Seigerman said the trial results point toa potentially competitive profile in atopic dermatitis, withhigher initial efficacy than Regeneron and Sanofi’s blockbusterDupixent. * Seigerman said the readout gives Pfizer another potentialcatalyst as it works to rebuild momentum across its pipeline,but cautioned that more detailed safety and placebo‑responsedata will be critical. * Across three doses, the share of patients with strongimprovement was 38.7%, 51.9% and 49.4%, which were higher thanplacebo. * Based on the results, Pfizer said it plans to move thedrug into late-stage testing for eczema, with the trial expectedto begin this year. * Pfizer plans to develop the drug for asthma and chronicobstructive pulmonary disease. * The current treatment landscape for eczema includesestablished drugs such as AbbVie’s Rinvoq and Eli Lilly’sEbglyss.

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)