Astrazeneca sees success with psoriasis treatment

12th Nov 2014 07:13

Astrazeneca has reported positive results from the phase three trial of its psoriasis treatment, broadalumab.The drugs maker said the treatment, when tested on 1,800 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, was more successful in achieving total clearance compared to both its Stelara drug and a placebo.When compared with placebo, a significantly greater proportion of patients treated with brodalumab achieved at least a 75% improvement in disease severity at week 12.All key secondary endpoints comparing brodalumab with Stelara and placebo were also met, Astra added.The most common adverse side effects of the drug were common cold, joint pain, upper respiratory tract infection and headache. Serious side effects occurred in between 0.6% and 1.4% of patients."These results add to the growing body of evidence supporting the potential value that brodalumab may bring to the treatment of psoriasis," said Briggs Morrison, the executive vice president of Global Medicines Development at Astra."We look forward to sharing results later this year from Amagine-2TM, our remaining head-to-head study evaluating brodalumab versus Stelara."Astrazeneca has partnered with Amgen on the development of the treatment.