Amgen and AstraZeneca Highlight Data to be Presented at 22nd Congress Of The European Academy Of Dermatology And Venereology

Amgen and AstraZeneca, with its biologics research and development arm MedImmune, have announced the upcoming presentation of several key studies evaluating brodalumab, a human monoclonal antibody targeting the interleukin-17 (IL-17) receptor, for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis at the 22nd Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) in Istanbul, 2–6 October 2013.

"The Phase II data demonstrate that the primary and secondary end points were met, including many patients achieving and maintaining total skin clearance with continued brodalumab therapy," said Sean E. Harper, MD, executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. "We look forward to further investigating brodalumab for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis."

Dr Bahija Jallal, executive vice president, MedImmune added: "We're very encouraged by these results and the initiation of our Phase III programme."

In October 2012, the companies announced the start of the Phase III programme in moderate to severe psoriasis for brodalumab. The programme consists of three Phase III studies evaluating treatment with brodalumab compared with ustekinumab and/or placebo. 

Abstracts will be presented during the poster session on Friday 4 Octoer 2013.

Abstracts of Interest Include:
• Maintenance of Clinical Response with Long-Term Brodalumab (AMG 827) Therapy for Psoriasis: Week 96 Results from an Open-Label Extension Study (Poster IST13-0686).
• Difference in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) with Increased Improvements in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and Maintenance of Skin Clearance (Poster 1030).
• Impact of Treatment with Brodalumab on Psoriasis Symptom Severity: Use of a Novel Patient-Reported Outcome Measure, the Psoriasis Symptom Inventory (PSI) (Poster 1640).