Takeda's Zasocitinib achieved over 2.5 times the PASI 100 rate of deucravacitinib in a head‑to‑head Ph3 psoriasis trial | iPharmaCenter
- Badari Andukuri
- 9 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Takeda reports that its investigational oral therapy Zasocitinib achieved markedly stronger outcomes than deucravacitinib in a head-to-head Phase 3 trial in adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The findings suggest a potential shift in expectations for oral treatment efficacy in this chronic inflammatory skin disease.
In the randomized, multicenter, double blind LATITUDE Atlas study (TAK‑279‑PsO‑3004), once daily Zasocitinib, a next generation, highly selective tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor, was directly compared with deucravacitinib. At week 16, Zasocitinib met the primary endpoint by delivering a significantly higher rate of complete skin clearance, defined as a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 100 response, than deucravacitinib. More than one in three patients who received Zasocitinib achieved PASI 100 at this time point, a response rate reported to be more than two and a half times that observed with deucravacitinib in the same study.
Zasocitinib also outperformed deucravacitinib across all key secondary endpoints at week 16, including PASI 90 responses and a Static Physician’s Global Assessment score of 0, indicating skin that appears clear on clinical examination. According to Takeda, the safety and tolerability profile in this trial was consistent with what has been seen in earlier Zasocitinib studies, and no new safety concerns were identified.
Based on the strength of these results, the company plans to move ahead with a New Drug Application for Zasocitinib in plaque psoriasis with the United States Food and Drug Administration and to engage with additional regulators starting in the current fiscal year. If approved, the drug could provide dermatologists and patients with a new, high efficacy oral option that does not require injections.
Zasocitinib is an investigational oral TYK2 inhibitor engineered to provide potent and sustained inhibition of the TYK2 pathway while sparing other Janus kinase family members. Preclinical and translational data indicate that Zasocitinib can maintain near complete inhibition of TYK2 driven signaling for 24 hours at clinically relevant doses, including pathways mediated by interleukin 23 and related cytokines that are central to psoriasis pathophysiology. In biochemical and cellular assays, the molecule has demonstrated more than one million fold higher selectivity for TYK2 over JAK1, JAK2 and JAK3, which may allow robust targeting of disease relevant immune signaling while minimizing effects on other JAK related pathways.
Takeda is evaluating Zasocitinib across a broader late stage program in immune mediated diseases, positioning the agent as a potential leading oral therapy candidate for patients seeking rapid, durable skin clearance with the convenience of once daily dosing.