Cosentyx beats Stelara in head to head

[Fred]

Cosentyx beats Stelara in sustained skin clearance (PASI 90 response) at 52 weeks for adults living with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

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Novartis announced today new late-breaking data from the head-to-head CLEAR study, demonstrating that Cosentyx (secukinumab) remains superior to Stelara (ustekinumab) in achieving sustained skin clearance (PASI 90 response) at 52 weeks for adults living with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. These findings were presented for the first time at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Cosentyx is the first fully human interleukin-17A inhibitor approved for adults to treat moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, and was recently approved for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis in the EU and US.

"Cosentyx continues to demonstrate superior and sustainable efficacy against currently available biologics and is a proven first-line treatment option for adult patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis," said Vasant Narasimhan, Global Head, Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer, Novartis. "Cosentyx has the potential to give more people with psoriasis than ever before the benefit of long-lasting skin clearance."

The ultimate aim of psoriasis treatment is clear skin, and the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 90 response is considered an important measure of treatment success. Meeting all primary and secondary endpoints at Weeks Four, 16 and 52, Cosentyx demonstrated it remains consistently superior to Stelara in achieving and sustaining PASI 90 response (76.2% vs. 60.6%; P<0.0001), and significantly better in achieving PASI 100 (clear skin) response (45.9% vs. 35.8%; P=0.0103) at 52 weeks. Cosentyx also showed significantly greater and sustained Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) 0/1 responses versus Stelara (71.6% vs. 59.2%; P=0.0008).

The study also demonstrated Cosentyx had a superior rapid onset of action compared to Stelara, with half of Cosentyx patients achieving PASI 75 as early as Week Four (50.0% vs. 20.6%, P<0.0001). Cosentyx had a similar safety profile to that of Stelara in the study, which was consistent with that reported in the pivotal Cosentyx Phase III studies.

Affecting around 125 million people globally, psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that causes itching, scaling and pain, and can have a significant impact on physical and psychological wellbeing. Despite this, up to half of patients receive no treatment, and of those who do, many (52%) remain dissatisfied with their disease management.

Source: novartis.com