Takeda's AI-crafted psoriasis pill succeeds in late-stage studies

Dec 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical said on Thursday its experimental pill for a type of skin disease, developed using ​artificial intelligence, succeeded in two late-stage studies.

More than half ‌the plaque psoriasis patients across the studies showed clear or almost clear skin after ‌16 weeks of treatment with the once-daily drug, zasocitinib, the company said.

Takeda plans to file marketing applications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities in 2026.

If approved, zasocitinib would join a ⁠crowded plaque psoriasis market ‌featuring well-established oral rivals like Bristol Myers' Sotyktu and Amgen's Otezla, plus injectables including Johnson & Johnson's Tremfya, AbbVie's ‍Skyrizi, and Novartis' Cosentyx.

Takeda's pill offers a convenient daily pill alternative alongside Sotyktu and Otezla in a market dominated by injectable drugs for treating plaque psoriasis, ​in which red, scaly patches occur on the skin due ‌to an overactive immune system.

The company is banking on the blockbuster potential of zasocitinib to help fill a revenue gap it faces after its inflammatory bowel disease drug Entyvio loses key patents at the end of the decade.

Takeda in January had said it expects zasocitinib, ⁠if approved, to generate peak annual sales ​in the range of $3 billion to $6 billion.

The ​drugmaker acquired zasocitinib from drug developer Nimbus Therapeutics in 2022 in a deal worth up to $6 billion. Nimbus ‍had identified the compound ⁠with the help of AI, a trend picking up pace in the pharmaceutical industry as companies seek to accelerate development ⁠of medicines.

The drug was generally well tolerated and outperformed placebo and Amgen's Otezla, with ‌treatment responses strengthening through week 24.

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan ‌in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)