Novartis AG To Roll Out 15 Abstracts At EADV

October 1, 2014

By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor

Novartis AG will unveil 15 new abstract drugs from its dermatology portfolio at the Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress in Amsterdam on Oct. 8, the company said today in a statement.

The news is likely to have followers of biotech pipelines closely interested in results for highly-promising drugs such as Novartis’s psoriasis therapy secukinumab, which will present its Phase III study results.

The abstracts also include new analyses of Xolair (omalizumab) in Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU) highlighting benefit to patients' quality of life. The company said new data to be presented at EADV will reinforce Phase III results of secukinumab in psoriasis and Xolair in CSU that showed consistent, fast results.

In an update on ongoing Novartis dermatology trials, the Phase IIIb CLEAR study finished the enrollment of 679 moderate-to-severe plaque patients earlier than expected after recruitment started in February 2014.

CLEAR is the second head-to-head secukinumab study versus a biologic treatment and will compare the long-term safety, tolerability and efficacy of secukinumab versus Stelara (ustekinumab), its primary market rival.

"Psoriasis and CSU are serious diseases that have a significant negative impact on quality of life," said Vasant Narasimhan, global head of development for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, in a statement. "With our new data at EADV 2014 and the record-breaking enrolment timeline of the CLEAR study, we are excited to continue generating important clinical evidence of the impact of secukinumab and Xolair on patients."