Takeda’s experimental oral psoriasis drug zasocitinib outperformed deucravacitinib in a Phase 3 head-to-head study, according to results presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress.
In the LATITUDE Atlas study, 36.5% of patients receiving zasocitinib achieved complete skin clearance at week 16, compared with 13.9% of patients receiving deucravacitinib. Complete clearance was measured by a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score of 100, or PASI 100.
The trial enrolled 301 patients in the zasocitinib group and 303 in the deucravacitinib group. At week 16, 62.5% of people taking zasocitinib achieved a PASI 90 response, meaning at least a 90% improvement in disease severity, versus 34.0% taking deucravacitinib. Clear skin on a physician assessment was reported in 43.2% of the zasocitinib group and 18.5% of the comparator group.
Zasocitinib is a once-daily tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor being developed for adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The drug remains investigational.
Takeda also reported longer-term findings from two other Phase 3 studies. Among patients who responded by week 24, up to 93% maintained their skin-clearance response through week 52 in LATITUDE PsO 3001 and through week 40 in LATITUDE PsO 3002.
In those studies, patients reported improvements in itching by week 2 and quality-of-life measures by week 4. The most common adverse events across the Phase 3 psoriasis program were upper respiratory tract infections, nasopharyngitis and acne.
Takeda said the safety profile was consistent across its studies and that no new safety signals were identified in the head-to-head trial.
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