July 27 (Reuters) – Chinese drugmaker Innocare Pharma said on Monday one of its experimental oral treatments for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis showed a “consistent treatment effect” in a late-stage clinical trial, as it seeks to compete with Western rivals in a growing market.
Plaque psoriasis is a chronic disease that causes red, scaly, inflamed patches on the skin. Data suggests about 8.66 million people in China live with psoriasis and the number there is on the rise, according to Innocare.
Pills like Bristol Myers Squibb’s Sotyktu and Amgen’s Otezla offer a convenient option to treat plaque psoriasis, in a global market largely dominated by injectables. As well as Innocare, other drugmakers including Takeda Pharmaceutical are developing experimental oral treatments.
“Multiple secondary endpoints were successfully met, demonstrating a consistent treatment effect across efficacy measures,” Innocare said in a statement, adding it plans to advance regulatory filing for the drug, fadeucravacitinib, following completion of its Phase III study.
Beijing-based Innocare specializes in drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. Its statement did not indicate in which countries it planned to seek approval for fadeucravacitinib.
(Reporting by Andrew Silver in Shanghai; additional reporting from Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Susan Fenton)
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