Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS) has published data collected over a period of five years of research on psoriasis Drug Cosentyx.
The recently published research on Cosentyx was collected from a Phase III study involving plaque psoriasis patients that was carried out over a period of five years. The company announced long-lasting clearance rates of the treatment as per the five-year trials. Novartis was pleased to make the announcement revealing Cosentyx as the first and only IL-17A inhibitor that has demonstrated consistent skin clearance rates over the long-term. This places the treatment in a favorable position.
Research collected from the long-term clinical trials revealed that Cosentyx achieved 100% Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 90 and PASI 100. The latter is a measure of skin clearance carried out in patients suffering from moderate to severe plaque psoriasis from the first year of treatment to the fifth year.
The results of the five-year study were revealed at the 26th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress which was held in Geneva, Switzerland. Novartis stock has registered significant performance this year with a 17.4 percent surge so far and it has also outperformed the growth in the industry. The announcement of the good news about Cosentyx is expected to contribute to a positive outlook on the stock performance.
“The long-term safety and efficacy data of the drug is expected to further boost its growth,” pointed out the report.
The drug has already received U.S approval for treating adults suffering from active psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis, and moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. It has also been prescribed to more than 100,000 patients since it was launched and it reached Blockbuster status in 2016 with sales worth $1.1 billion. Cosentyx registered sales worth $900,000 in the first half of 2017. The drug was also granted regulatory approval for a label update in Europe in the second quarter of this year. The label update will include 52-week data collected from the CLEAR study which exhibited long-term superiority in psoriasis compared to the JNJ Stelara drug from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ).
Novartis stock closed the latest trading session on Thursday at $85.83.
