By Maria Armental
A potential treatment for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis
shows positive results, Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and AstraZeneca PLC (AZN)
said Friday.
The drug makers said the Phase 3 of the brodalumab 661-patient
study met all primary and secondary endpoints, including patients
achieving at least 75% improvement from baseline in disease
severity or clear or almost clear skin at week 12.
Adverse effects included nasopharyngitis, upper respiratory
tract infections and headaches. Serious adverse effects occurred in
1.8% of patients in the higher dose group studied and 2.7% of the
lower dose, compared to 1.4% for the placebo group.
Plaque psoriasis is the most common form of psoriasis, a
non-contagious, autoimmune chronic disease in which skin cells grow
at an accelerated rate, causing painful and itchy, red, scaly
patches.
Brodalumab is a novel human monoclonal antibody that binds to
the interleukin-17 (IL-17) receptor and inhibits inflammatory
signaling by blocking the binding of several IL-17 ligands to the
receptor, the drug makers said.
In addition to moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, Amgen and
AstraZeneca are studying the use of brodalumab to treat psoriatic
arthritis (Phase 3) and asthma (Phase 2).
The companies are developing and commercializing five monoclonal
antibodies from Amgen's clinical inflammation portfolio, including
brodalumab, under an April 2012 agreement.
Shares of Amgen closed at $111.48 Friday and were slightly up in
after-hours trading. ZastraZeneca's shares, also up in after-hours
trading, closed at $77.24.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
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