UCB SA anticipates submitting regulatory applications in the third quarter for IL-17-targeting bimekizumab in psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, after chalking up second successful phase III trials in both indications. Meanwhile, the high commercial hopes for the would-be blockbuster remain at least temporarily deferred as pandemic-related travel restrictions have delayed FDA action on the BLA for plaque psoriasis.
At a recent lecture at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Mehta, who is chief of the laboratory of inflammation and cardiometabolic diseases at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and an adjunct professor of medicine at George Washington University, described his insights into the links between psoriasis, inflammation and cardiometabolic disease.
Prospects for Zerigo Health Inc. brightened with a series B fundraising round that brought in $43 million to support expansion of the company’s at-home ultraviolet B phototherapy system for chronic skin conditions. The connected system enables a physician to ensure the prescribed dose is delivered while freeing patients from the thrice-weekly office visits often required for treatment of psoriasis, vitiligo and eczema.
Denmark’s Union Therapeutics A/S has begun a strategic collaboration with Innovent Biologics Inc. over orismilast, a next-generation oral PDE4 inhibitor for inflammatory dermatology conditions that could compete directly with Amgen Inc.’s psoriasis blockbuster, Otezla (apremilast). At the same time, the company is looking for partners in the medium term to develop the drug in the rest of the world as it bids to take on Amgen and other dermatology players such as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
What one analyst characterized as “a little bit of an exotic or at least unusual statistical analysis on the phase II primary endpoint” may have dampened enthusiasm somewhat for Evelo Biosciences Inc.’s results in mild and moderate psoriasis with EDP-1815, but the firm is advancing the compound to registration studies.
The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is playing catch-up after seeing its workflow disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and has made the first funding approval using a new fast track appraisal process.
Dermavant Sciences Inc. has announced a $200 million financing deal to clear the way for a potential U.S. launch of its dermatology cream tapinarof, covering a potential milestone payment to Glaxosmithkline plc following a filing in severe psoriasis.
LONDON – C4X Discovery Holdings plc has out-licensed its preclinical oral interleukin-17 (IL-17) inhibitor to Sanofi SA in a potential €414 million (US$493.4 million) deal. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanofi is paying €7 million up front and a further €11 in short-term preclinical milestones, with the balance to follow on reaching development, regulatory and commercialization milestones.
The Human Skin Cell Atlas, comprising transcriptomes of 528,253 single cells, shows that cellular processes involved in skin development in embryos are reactivated in inflammatory skin diseases. In addition to suggesting potential new drug targets for atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, the transcriptomes provide a new route to understanding other inflammatory diseases, and provide a template for culturing skin for wound repair, according to the authors of a paper published in the Jan. 22, 2021, issue of Science.
The Human Skin Cell Atlas, comprising transcriptomes of 528,253 single cells, shows that cellular processes involved in skin development in embryos are reactivated in inflammatory skin diseases. In addition to suggesting potential new drug targets for atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, the transcriptomes provide a new route to understanding other inflammatory diseases.
