Standing toe-to-toe with giants is nothing to sniff at, but bagging an outright advantage is something else: Just ask Eli Lilly's Taltz, which notched a head-to-head victory against AbbVie's behemoth Humira in psoriatic arthritis. Now, Taltz is doubling up on that win—and hoping doctors will pay attention.
Taltz topped Humira in clearing new psoriatic arthritis patients' skin and improving joint function at the 52-week mark, according to data from Lilly's phase 3b/4 Spirit study presented Tuesday at the American College of Rheumatology meeting in Atlanta.
The 52-week data follow up on Taltz's significant advantage over Humira at the 24-week mark of the Spirit study, which Lilly presented in June at the European College of Rheumatology meeting in Madrid.
According to the most recent data, 39% of patients treated with Taltz sustained a 50% reduction in joint inflammation and 100% clear skin after 52 weeks of use. Only 26% of patients on Humira hit the same markers.
Lotus Mallbris, Lilly's vice president of immunology development, said in a statement the 52-week data provided doctors with clear evidence Taltz stayed effective after a year of use in patients.
“We believe these data provide further evidence of the efficacy of Taltz as a first-line treatment for patients with active psoriatic arthritis," she said.
