Eli Lilly and Company LLY announced that the FDA has approved the label expansion of its psoriasis drug, Taltz, to include the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in adults.
We note that Taltz is presently approved for treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults who can have systemic therapy or phototherapy.
The drug has grown more than 50% in the first nine months of 2017 and contributed significantly to revenues and volumes. This approval for an expanded label in the United States is expected to further boost its growth.
Lilly’s stock price has increased 26.9% in the past one year, outperforming the industry’s gain of 20%.
Coming back to the news, the FDA’s approval for Taltz’ label expansion was based on data from two phase III studies – SPIRIT-P1 and SPIRIT-P2 – evaluating the drug in active PsA patients, who have not received any antirheumatic drug therapy or who have failed one or two tumor necrosis factor (“TNF”) inhibitors, respectively.
The drug achieved a reduction of 20% or more in a composite measure of disease activity (ACR20) in more than half of the patient population in both the studies at 24 weeks.
The drug (80 mg/mL) can be injected as single agent or in combination with any disease-modifying antirheumatic drug like methotrexate.
However, Taltz will face competition from several drugs, especially Novartis’ NVS Cosentyx, as both the drug works by targeting IL-17A. Cosentyx is also approved for PsA and plaque psoriasis.
PsA is a chronic form of inflammatory arthritis, which is painful and progressive as well. Per the press release, approximately 1.6 million people in the United States are affected by the disease. Apart from Cosentyx, Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ Stelara and AbbVie Inc.’s ABBV Humira among others are fighting for market share.
Lilly carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Zacks’ Best Private Investment Ideas
While we are happy to share many articles like this on the website, our best recommendations and most in-depth research are not available to the public.
Starting today, for the next month, you can follow all Zacks' private buys and sells in real time. Our experts cover all kinds of trades… from value to momentum . . . from stocks under $10 to ETF and option moves . . . from stocks that corporate insiders are buying up to companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises. You can even look inside exclusive portfolios that are normally closed to new investors.
Click here for Zacks' private trades >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment