J&J’s Icotyde psoriasis pills to rival Tremfya Skyrizi IL-23 shots

Johnson & Johnson The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a once-daily psoriasis pill, the first oral option to rival the best-selling doses, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Icotyde pills to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, an autoimmune condition that causes rough patches of skin. Patients usually start treatment with topical medications.

If these medications don’t work, they resort to pills or injections. Johnson & Johnson sees Ecotide becoming the first systemic treatment for psoriasis, between topical and injectable.

Drug makers have developed medications that are more advanced than standard topical medications, turning psoriasis into a highly competitive field. Icotyde targets the same IL-23 receptor as top-selling shots like J&J’s Tremfya and AbbVieSkyrizi, which gives patients an oral alternative to some of the most advanced — and expensive — medications on the market.

“To be able to have something that is relatively simple, that provides this level of licensure, that reliable safety profile, in a simple pill, we think it will be revolutionary,” said Jennifer Taubert, chair of Johnson & Johnson’s Board of Innovative Medicines.

Johnson & Johnson estimates that about 8 million people in the United States have plaque psoriasis, and that 75% of people do not progress from topicals to injections for reasons such as fear of needles. Taubert finds Ecotide attractive to these patients.

“Having the type of profile that Ecotide has in a simple, once-daily oral pill, we think it will be a complete game-changer for patients,” Taubert said.

J&J has not announced how much Icotyde will cost other than to say the company will help people pay for the drug. Competing shots Tremfya and Skyrizi cost about $100,000 a year.

J&J sees peak annual sales of Icotyde exceeding $5 billion once it is approved for other autoimmune conditions. He is testing the drug to treat psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

J&J shares fell a quarter of a percent on Wednesday while shares of Skyrizi maker AbbVie fell more than 4%. Treatments of the protagonistthe biotech company that developed Icotyde with J&J, was trading roughly flat.