It’s go big or go home for the newly re-branded Valeant Ortho Dermatologic division.

At the 2017 American Academy of Dermatology in New York City, the company will officially launch Siliq (brodalumab) for psoriasis and announce their new name change.

Dermwire sat down with Bill Humphries, executive vice president and company group chairman of Ortho Dermatologics for an exclusive talk about his new role and what we can expect to see from Valeant Ortho Dermatologics in the coming months.

“Physicians and patients can expect an honoring of the legacy that is Ortho Dermatologics,” he said. “We have a portfolio that is now tied together and a pipeline that is perhaps underappreciated because It has been kept a little under the radar and robust R and D efforts.”

The division is launching Siliq, a monoclonal antibody that targets the IL-17 receptor A for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy and have failed to respond or have lost response to other systemic therapies.  “We have publicly discussed IDP-118 (halobetasol propionate and tazarotene) for the treatment of psoriasis and we believe this is true innovation and that patients and physicians will come to appreciate that if it is approved and when we launch.”

The pipeline is focused on acne and atopic dermatitis, he shared.

Humphries joined Valeant several months ago and so far, so good. “It’s going great. Every morning when I wake up I feel that we are going to turn this business around,” he said.

As to why he joined the team, “I have the opportunity … to work on the biggest turnaround in the history of pharmaceuticals. The first half of the story is written and I am excited to be part of the team that is actively writing the 2^nd half.”