Amgen, AstraZeneca Announce Positive Results from Brodalumab Study

   By Maria Armental 
 

A potential treatment for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis shows positive results, Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) said Friday.

The drug makers said the Phase 3 of the brodalumab 661-patient study met all primary and secondary endpoints, including patients achieving at least 75% improvement from baseline in disease severity or clear or almost clear skin at week 12.

Adverse effects included nasopharyngitis, upper respiratory tract infections and headaches. Serious adverse effects occurred in 1.8% of patients in the higher dose group studied and 2.7% of the lower dose, compared to 1.4% for the placebo group.

Plaque psoriasis is the most common form of psoriasis, a non-contagious, autoimmune chronic disease in which skin cells grow at an accelerated rate, causing painful and itchy, red, scaly patches.

Brodalumab is a novel human monoclonal antibody that binds to the interleukin-17 (IL-17) receptor and inhibits inflammatory signaling by blocking the binding of several IL-17 ligands to the receptor, the drug makers said.

In addition to moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, Amgen and AstraZeneca are studying the use of brodalumab to treat psoriatic arthritis (Phase 3) and asthma (Phase 2).

The companies are developing and commercializing five monoclonal antibodies from Amgen's clinical inflammation portfolio, including brodalumab, under an April 2012 agreement.

Shares of Amgen closed at $111.48 Friday and were slightly up in after-hours trading. ZastraZeneca's shares, also up in after-hours trading, closed at $77.24.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

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