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player ready...In early clinical trials, Abbott Laboratories’ drug for rheumatoid arthritis, Humira, is also showing promise as a treatment for the chronic skin condition psoriasis.
Humira, which is already one of the world’s top selling rheumatoid arthritis medicines, is showing statistically significant results in psoriasis patients, according to a study presented this week at the American Academy of Dermatology meeting, which ended Wednesday in Washington.
More than 50 percent of patients receiving a 40-milligram dose of Humira every other week saw a 75 percent improvement in the symptoms of their disease after 12 weeks.
The study looked at 148 patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. About two-thirds took the drug every other week or every week. The remaining third took a placebo.
In addition, 49 percent of patients taking Humira every other week were clear or almost clear of the disease at 12 weeks. Meanwhile, 76 percent of patients taking Humira every week were “clear” or “almost clear” of the disease at 12 weeks.
“In treating patients with psoriasis, decreasing or clearing the physical manifestations of the disease are key to improving the quality of life of our patients,” said Dr. Kenneth Gordon, a dermatologist and professor of medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
Gordon is a paid consultant to Abbott and lead investigator of the study. Gordon also has been a paid researcher for other drug companies developing psoriasis treatments and has done research on rival treatments.
“This disease is both emotionally and physically debilitating,” Gordon said. “We are trying to improve patients lives.”
Psoriasis is a genetic skin disease that causes patches of skin to become thick, red and scaly. The disease affects more than 4.5 million people in the U.S.
But more treatments are under development or already on the market by Abbott’s rivals. Those drugs, too, like Abbott’s Humira, are biologics that are being tested for other so-called autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s disease.
Some analysts believe Abbott’s patient trials could put Humira ahead of rival treatments at this stage in the research process. Abbott’s research to date is the “most promising data we’ve seen for drug-based psoriasis therapy,” Phil Nalbone, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco, wrote in a report earlier this week.
Abbott insiders like to call Humira a “pipeline in a drug,” because of its potential to treat several different diseases. The drug’s versatility is the biggest single reason Abbott in 2001 agreed to buy BASF AG’s Knoll Pharmaceuticals unit for $6.9 billion.
Simply as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, Humira is headed toward being a blockbuster–a benchmark of $1 billion in annual sales Wall Street uses to measure a drug’s success.
In January, Abbott raised its 2004 worldwide sales projection for Humira to more than $700 million from a $500 million projection last spring. In 2003, worldwide Humira sales were $280 million.
By late 2005 or early 2006, Abbott expects to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for Humira as a psoriasis treatment.