Celgene provides more apremilast psoriasis data

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG) said 33.1% of patients receiving twice-daily oral apremilast achieved a PASI 75 response at week 16, the primary endpoint, vs. 5.3% for patients receiving placebo in the Phase III ESTEEM 1 trial to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (p<0.0001). Celgene said that a significantly greater proportion of patients who received apremilast across all patients populations achieved a PASI 75 response vs. placebo, including systemic treatment-naïve patients (38.7% vs. 7.6%, p<0.0001), biologic treatment-naïve patients (35.8% vs. 5.9%, p<0.0001) and patients who failed tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors (26.9% vs. 0%, p=0.0273). The double-blind, international trial enrolled 844 patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who were also candidates for phototherapy and/or systemic therapy. Data were presented at American Academy of Dermatology meeting in Miami.

In January, Celgene reported that apremilast met the primary endpoint of improving PASI 75 response rate at week 16 vs. placebo in both the Phase III ESTEEM 1 and ESTEEM 2 trials (see BioCentury, Jan. 7). ...