Eli Lilly and Company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Taltz® (ixekizumab) injection 80 mg/mL for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. Taltz should not be used in patients with a previous hypersensitivity reaction, such as anaphylaxis, to ixekizumab or to any of the excipients. Taltz is designed to specifically target IL-17A, a protein that plays a role in driving underlying inflammation in psoriasis.
The FDA approval of Taltz was based on findings from the largest Phase 3 trial program approved to date more than 3,800 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis from 21 countries. This number includes patients who began the trial on Taltz or placebo, or active comparator (U.S.-approved etanercept). This clinical program included three double-blind, multicenter, Phase 3 studies UNCOVER-1, UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3 which demonstrated the safety and efficacy of Taltz in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. All three studies evaluated the safety and efficacy of Taltz (80 mg every two weeks, following a 160-mg starting dose) compared to placebo after 12 weeks. UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3 included an additional comparator arm in which patients received U.S.-approved etanercept (50 mg twice a week) for 12 weeks. UNCOVER-1 and UNCOVER-2 also evaluated response rates with Taltz during the maintenance period through 60 weeks.
In these studies, the co-primary efficacy endpoints at 12 weeks were a 75 percent improvement in the composite Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score and static Physician's Global Assessment (sPGA) 0 or 1 and at least a 2-point improvement from baseline. PASI measures the extent and severity of psoriasis by assessing average redness, thickness and scaliness of skin lesions (each graded on a zero to four scale), weighted by the body surface area of involved skin, while the sPGA is the physician's assessment of severity of a patient's psoriasis lesions overall at a specific point in time and is a required measure the FDA uses to evaluate effectiveness.
In all three studies, at 12 weeks, 87 to 90 percent of patients treated with Taltz saw a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques (PASI 75). In addition, 81 to 83 percent of patients treated with Taltz achieved sPGA 0 or 1. The majority of patients treated with Taltz, 68 to 71 percent, achieved virtually clear skin (PASI 90) and 35 to 42 percent of patients saw complete resolution of their psoriasis plaques (PASI 100, sPGA 0). Among those patients treated with placebo, 7 percent or fewer achieved PASI 75, 7 percent or fewer achieved sPGA 0 or 1, 3 percent or fewer achieved PASI 90 and 1 percent or fewer achieved PASI 100 and sPGA 0.
