Eli Lilly and Co announced the availability of a new, citrate-free formulation of Taltz® (ixekizumab) injection 80 mg/mL. The new formulation, which was recently approved by The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May 2022, includes the same active ingredient as the original formulation. The new Taltz formulation significantly reduced injection site pain experienced by some people immediately following injection as shown by an 86% decrease in a visual analog scale (VAS) of pain versus the original formulation. Taltz is approved to treat adults and children six years and older with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy, adults with active psoriatic arthritis, active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) with objective signs of inflammation.
"Taltz has long delivered effective treatment with a well-established safety profile that addresses symptoms for people living with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, AS and nr-axSpA," said Ashley Diaz-Granados, vice president, U.S. Immunology at Lilly. "We're proud of our investment in research that keeps the patient experience at the center. This new formulation provides yet another reason to choose Taltz, and we look forward to introducing it to patients who have not yet tried Taltz and providing a seamless transition for those already enjoying the medicine's benefits."
Taltz citrate-free demonstrated a safety profile consistent with the original formulation. The safety information for Taltz can be found below.
Existing Taltz patients will not need a new prescription, nor should they experience a gap in their therapy. The new formulation is currently being shipped across the U.S. with anticipated broad availability for both new and existing Taltz patients by the end of the month. In the interim, the original formulation of Taltz continues to be available until it is replaced by the citrate-free formulation. The citrate-free formulation of Taltz was approved by the European Medicines Agency in December 2021 with several markets launching now and many more anticipated in the coming months.
"Today is an exciting milestone for the nearly 30 million people around the world who live with the challenging symptoms of these autoimmune diseases that affect the skin and joints," said April Armstrong, M.D., MPH, professor of dermatology and associate dean of clinical research, Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. "In my six years of prescribing Taltz, I've seen firsthand the significant impact Taltz has had for patients across multiple indications. The availability of Taltz as a citrate-free formulation represents an important advance in patient care that will allow more patients to experience less injection-site pain."
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