The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an intravenous (IV) version of Novartis’s Cosentyx (secukinumab) for the treatment of adults with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA).
The treatment targets and blocks interleukin-17A (IL-17A), a cytokine that is implicated in the inflammation associated with different rheumatic diseases, including PsA, AS and nr-axSpA. The injectable version of the drug gained FDA and European approval in January 2015 to treat patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The FDA approval for AS and PsA came a year later.
Cosentyx is now the only approved treatment that specifically blocks IL-17A available in an IV formulation. The IV drug will be available in Q4 of 2023.
Cosentyx had a worldwide market value of $4.79bn (SFr4.36bn) last year, according to Novartis’ 2022 annual report. According to GlobalData, Cosentyx sales are forecasted to increase to $6.16bn in 2029.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
Dr Philip Mease, clinical professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, said: “The approval of Cosentyx as an IV formulation is an important milestone for patients because it expands the treatment options available to them with a different mechanism of action than existing biologic IV therapies, along with the comfort and familiarity of an established treatment.”
