Dive Brief:
- Since the FDA's approval of Novartis' Cosentyx (secukinumab) in January, the company has been racking up positive clinical trial data for the drug in head-to-head trials. Cosentyx has shown superiority to both Enbrel (etanercept), manufactured by Amgen, and now Stelara (ustekinumab), manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.
- Cosentyx is the first and only interleukin 17-A (IL-17A) inhibitor approved for treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.
- In a phase IIIb study, Cosentyx was superior to Stelara in terms of Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 90 response at week 16 (79% vs. 57.6%, P<0.0001).
Dive Insight:
The results of Novartis's phase III results confirm the utility of Cosentyx across the board. In fact, at the 16-week mark, 44.3% of Cosentx-treated patients achieved completely clear skin (PAS100), compared with 28.4% of Stelara-treated patients (P<0.0001). But it didn't take 16 weeks to get a response. Cosentyx demonstrated rapid onset of action, as evidenced by the 50% of treated patients who achieved PASI 75 by week 4.
Cosentyx is a monoclonal antibody, which represents the introduction of a new class of drug for treatment of psoriasis. Analysts expect roughly $133 million in sales of the drug this year, and $1.1 billion by 2020.