Janssen upbeat about latest guselkumab data for patients with psoriatic arthritis

Janssen (NYSE:JNJ) recently presented new data on Tremfya (guselkumab) related to active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence while also publishing data in Arthritis & Rheumatology. Notably, guselkumab provided durable joint symptom and disease activity improvement with a consistent safety profile through week 100 in adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Guselkumab first won FDA approval in 2017 for treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The drug became the first interleukin (IL)-23 inhibitor to win an FDA indication for active PsA in 2020.

“We at Janssen are committed to this IL-23 pathway and understanding how it is driving disease,” said Dr. Alyssa Johnsen, vice president, rheumatology and maternal-fetal immunology disease area leader at Janssen. The pathway is “very important for psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis, and we continue to investigate where it might be able to help patients and add…

Read more
  • 0

Why Janssen believes next-gen drug Tremfya can meet unmet needs in psoriasis and beyond

Two decades ago, psoriasis was a poorly understood condition. Treatment options for severe psoriasis included powerful immunosuppressant agents such as methotrexate and cyclosporin that can have significant side effects.

But the fact those immunosuppressant drugs were effective at treating psoriasis helped pave the way to use biologics to treat the condition. The experience “really taught us that psoriasis was an immunologic disease,” said Dr. Lloyd Miller, vice president, immunodermatology at Janssen Research & Development (NYSE:JNJ).

After researchers determined that psoriasis, which affects some 125 million patients worldwide, results from excess inflammatory cytokines, drug developers began to test the potential of inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin 17 (IL-17) in treating the disease.

FDA approved TNF blockers such as Janssen’s Remicade (infliximab) for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in the mid-2000s. IL-17A antagonists …

Read more
  • 0