By Sahil Pandey
Sept 30 (Reuters) – Merck said on Wednesday its experimental drug significantly reduced inflammatory skin lesions in patients with a chronic skin disease, meeting the main goal of a mid-stage study.
The results bolster Merck’s push into immunology and could position the drug, tulisokibart, as a potential new treatment option for hidradenitis suppurativa, also known as acne inversa, which causes small, painful lumps to form under the skin.
In the study, 72% of patients who received the highest dose of tulisokibart achieved at least a 50% reduction in inflammatory skin lesions after 16 weeks, compared with 35% of patients on placebo.
RBC Capital analysts had expected about 52% to 58% of patients to achieve at least a 50% reduction in inflammatory skin lesions.
About 41% of patients receiving the highest dose of the drug also achieved a tougher measure requiring at least a 75% reduction in lesions, compared with 15% on placebo, Merck said.
The company added that safety was comparable between treatment and placebo groups.
Merck acquired tulisokibart through its $10.8 billion purchase of Prometheus Biosciences in 2023.
Tulisokibart, which succeeded in a late-stage chronic bowel disease study in June, is among the drugs Merck is counting on to help offset the eventual loss of exclusivity on Keytruda, its blockbuster cancer immunotherapy, later this decade.
RBC Capital analysts project the market for hidradenitis suppurativa treatments to exceed $10 billion by 2035.
Biologic medicines are currently used by a small proportion of patients and treatment rates are expected to increase as new therapies become available, the analysts said.
Currently approved treatments for the condition include AbbVie’s Humira and Novartis’ Cosentyx.
(Reporting by Sahil Pandey in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
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