Phase 3 Results Promising for Oral Psoriasis Agent

Results from two pivotal Phase 3 trials from the Oral treatment Psoriasis Trials (OPT) Program indicate that the investigational oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor tofacitinib (Pfizer) is both safe and effective for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. The OPT Pivotal #1 and OPT Pivotal #2 studies showed that tofacitinib, as a 5 mg or a 10 mg dose taken as a pill twice-daily, met the primary efficacy endpoints of statistically significant superiority over placebo at Week 16 in the proportion of subjects achieving a Physician's Global Assessment response of “clear” or “almost clear,” and the proportion of subjects achieving at least a 75% reduction in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, two commonly used measures of efficacy in psoriasis. In addition, no new safety signals for tofacitinib were observed in the OPT Pivotal #1 or OPT Pivotal #2 studies. Detailed analyses of these studies, including additional efficacy and safety data, will be submitted for presentation at a future scientific meeting. Pfizer intends to submit a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of tofacitinib 5 mg and 10 mg twice-daily for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis by early 2015.