SHANGHAI, Aug 27 (Reuters) – China’s drug regulator has approved Johnson & Johnson’s oral pill for psoriasis, the company said on Thursday, intensifying competition in the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical market with rivals including Bristol Myers Squibb and AbbVie.
Psoriasis, a chronic autoimmune condition that causes itchy, scaly, and inflamed patches of skin, affects more than 8.4 million patients in China, according to J&J. Other treatments include its own Tremfya, Bristol Myers’ Sotyktu and AbbVie’s Skyrizi.
Wall Street analysts have said J&J’s drug, Icotrokinra, has “blockbuster potential” as a safe and effective oral medication and that the once-daily medication could capture significant market share from injectables, such as Skyrizi and Tremfya.
It was approved in China for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, J&J said in a statement. A spokesperson for J&J did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours on availability, pricing or sales expectations for the local market.
Other drugmakers including China’s Innocare Pharma and Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical are also developing experimental oral treatments in a global market largely dominated by injectables.
(Reporting by Andrew Silver in ShanghaiEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
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