By Padmanabhan Ananthan
Aug 10 (Reuters) – MoonLake Immunotherapeutics said on Monday its experimental drug met all main goals in a late-stage trial involving adults with an inflammatory disease who had not previously received biologic medicines.
However, shares of the Switzerland-based company fell more than 8% in premarket trading amid investor concerns about how the drug stacks up against UCB’s Bimzelx, an FDA approved biologic for the condition.
• Psoriatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that can affect people who have psoriasis, a skin condition that causes itchy, scaly patches on the skin.
• In the study, 42.1% of patients with psoriatic arthritis receiving a 60 mg dose of sonelokimab after an initial induction dose achieved a significant improvement in symptoms by week 16, MoonLake said.
• 66.5% of patients achieved at least a 20% improvement in psoriatic arthritis symptoms, while 41.2% reached minimal disease activity. Among patients with skin-related symptoms, 61% saw a major improvement in psoriasis, the company added.
• Patients also reported better physical function and quality of life, with no new safety concerns identified, MoonLake said.
• MoonLake did not disclose how sonelokimab performed against placebo, saying treatment-group comparisons would remain blinded until the late-stage program was completed.
• Clear Street analyst Kaveri Pohlman told Reuters MoonLake’s data for sonelokimab was strong and largely matched results seen with UCB’s Bimzelx.
• The stock’s decline likely reflected investor expectations for a clearer advantage over Bimzelx, Pohlman said, while the absence of a placebo arm also made it difficult to assess the magnitude of benefit relative to placebo.
• The late-stage study will continue through 52 weeks, with full results expected in the first half of 2027.
• Sonelokimab, MoonLake’s lead drug candidate, is also being evaluated for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa, a chronic skin disease characterized by painful, boil-like lumps that form beneath the skin.
(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)
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