Protagonist Therapeutics stock broke out Monday after the company's Johnson & Johnson-partnered drug topped its rival from Bristol Myers Squibb in a study of plaque psoriasis patients.
Protagonist and J&J pitted their experimental drug, icotrokinra or JNJ-2113, against Bristol's approved treatment, Sotyktu. In addition to showing statistically significant results on the primary goals of the study — improvement in inflammation and reaching clear skin — icotrokinra outperformed Sotyktu across all study goals at weeks 16 and 24.
Now, J&J is planning a head-to-head study comparing the same drug in patients to its own Stelara in patients with plaque psoriasis. This suggests "JNJ's strong confidence in JNJ-2113's efficacy as well as commitment to establishing JNJ-2113 as a paradigm shifting therapy in PsO, and potentially additional indications as well," Wedbush analyst Yun Zhong said in a report.
Protagonist Therapeutics shares shot up 45.9%, closing at 55.95. Shares ended the regular session north of a buy point at 48.89 out of a consolidation, according to MarketSurge.
Changing The Psoriasis Paradigm
Researchers measured patients' symptoms on two scales: the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index and the Investigator's Global Assessment. On the former measurement, 40% of patients reached PASI 100 — meaning a complete clearance of psoriasis patches — after 24 weeks. On the latter measure, 46% of patients reached IGA 0, indicating clear skin.
Icotrokinra's results compare favorably to Stelara and AbbVie's Skyrizi, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said in a report. Less than a quarter of Stelara patients, 21%, reached PASI 100 after a year on treatment and 56% of Skyrizi recipients hit that bar.
Risinger noted icotrokinra showed "exceptional" safety with no difference between patients who received the experimental drug and those given a placebo.
"We believe the PASI 100 results and clear safety profile will drive material upward pressure on icotrokinra 2032 consensus sales (estimate) of $2.1B," he said. "We now view icotrokinra as a greater threat to other oral agents, such as Sotyktu and Amgen's Otezla."
Notably, icotrokinra is an oral drug and it's going up against Stelara, an injectable biologic drug, in a head-to-head study.
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