AbbVie's skin disease drug reduces lesions in trial, company eyes weight-loss combination

Merck & Co

Today 14:00

By Christy Santhosh
Oct 22 (Reuters) - AbbVie ABBV.N said on Thursday its experimental drug significantly reduced inflammatory lumps and abscesses in patients with a chronic skin disease, meeting the main goal of a late-stage study.
AbbVie is betting on the drug, lutikizumab, to broaden its immunology franchise, and supplement the growth from its blockbuster drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq. 
The company expects to begin testing lutikizumab alongside its experimental weight-loss drug, ABBV-295, by the end of the year, AbbVie's immunology head, Kori Wallace, told Reuters. 
The combination aims to address obesity, which can worsen the skin condition.
Lutikizumab was tested in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa, or acne inversa, a condition marked by small, painful lumps to form under the skin.
In the 1,400-patient trial, about 31% of patients treated with lutikizumab achieved at least a 75% reduction in inflammatory skin lesions after 16 weeks, compared with 23% of those on placebo.
Citi analyst Geoffrey Meacham in a note ahead of the readout said that a more than 15-percentage-point improvement versus placebo would represent a clear win on the main goal.
ABBV-295, which was licensed last year from Danish biotech Gubra, mimics the hormone amylin and could be used as an alternative to popular GLP-1 drugs like Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO Wegovy and Eli Lilly's LLY.N Zepbound. 
"Majority of patients with HS are obese and that weight actually drives worse disease activity. Bringing down weight with our anti-inflammatory could really lead to increased efficacy in patients," AbbVie's Wallace said.
The company is also testing Rinvoq, its arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease drug, in hidradenitis suppurativa, with late-stage trial results expected by the end of 2026.
Wallace said the company sees an opportunity for lutikizumab both as a standalone treatment and as part of a "one-two punch" with Rinvoq in HS.
RBC Capital analysts expect the market for hidradenitis suppurativa treatments to exceed $10 billion by 2035. Other candidates in development include Novartis' NOVN.S remibrutinib as well as Merck's MRK.N tulisokibart.

 (Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
 ((Christy.Santhosh@thomsonreuters.com;))