The late-breaking data on AbbVie’s Skyrizi in plaque psoriasis (PsO) that was presented at the recently concluded American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting is expected to help Skyrizi’s positioning in the crowded PsO biologics space, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Vinie Varkey, Managing Analyst Immunology at GlobalData, comments: “The latest results which highlight Skyrizi’s potential to achieve clear skin clearance help AbbVie towards building a commendable data set in favour of Skyrizi, and the therapy’s positioning within the PsO market. It is worth noting that this therapy had previously demonstrated its superiority over its rival and leading PsO brand, Cosentyx from Novartis, in the Phase III active – comparator IMMerge trial.”

Although interleukin-17 (IL-17) inhibitor therapies such as Cosentyx have been first-to-market compared to IL-23 inhibitor therapies such as Skyrizi in the PsO market, the latter set of therapies have been able to gain traction among patients and physicians alike.

Varkey continues: “One primary reason for this uptake is the fact that IL-23 inhibitors are associated with less frequent dosing compared to IL-17 inhibitors as mechanistically, IL-23 inhibitors target upstream cytokines compared to those targeted by IL-17 inhibitors. The need for less frequent dosing is a factor that potentially facilitates drug uptake.”

The results from head-to-head trials comparing different therapies will be crucial for drugs to stake a claim in the market. According to GlobalData’s Sales and Forecast Consensus database, Skyrizi is anticipated to garner global sales of $9.5 billion in 2029.

Varkey concludes: “Although there is a risk that head-to-head trials comparing competing therapies can play out negatively for the sponsor company, the latest set of data will continue to help AbbVie’s Skyrizi to be a formidable player in the PsO market and will help it to pull ahead of its competitors.”