AbbVie's skin disease drug reduces lesions in trial, company eyes weight-loss combination

Oct 22 — AbbVie said on Thursday its experimental drug significantly reduced inflammatory lumps and ​abscesses in patients with a chronic skin disease, meeting the main goal of a late-stage study.

AbbVie is betting on the drug, lutikizumab, to ‌broaden its immunology franchise, and supplement the growth from its blockbuster drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq.

The company expects ⁠to begin testing lutikizumab alongside its ​experimental weight-loss drug, ABBV-295, by the ⁠end of the year, AbbVie's immunology head, Kori Wallace, told Reuters.

The combination ‌aims to address obesity, ‌which can worsen the skin condition.

Lutikizumab was tested in patients with hidradenitis ⁠suppurativa, or acne inversa, a condition marked ⁠by small, painful lumps to form under the skin.

In the 1,400-patient trial, about 31% of patients treated with lutikizumab achieved at least a 75% reduction in inflammatory skin lesions after 16 weeks, compared with 23% of those on placebo.

Citi analyst Geoffrey Meacham in a note ahead of the ‌readout said that a more than 15-percentage-point improvement versus ​placebo would represent a clear win on the main goal.

ABBV-295, which was licensed last year from Danish biotech Gubra, mimics the hormone amylin and could be used as an alternative to popular GLP-1 drugs like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound.

"Majority of patients with HS are obese and that weight actually drives worse disease activity. Bringing down weight with our ​anti-inflammatory could really lead to increased efficacy in patients," AbbVie's Wallace said.

The company is also ‌testing Rinvoq, its ‌arthritis and ⁠inflammatory bowel disease drug, in hidradenitis suppurativa, with late-stage trial results expected by the end of 2026.

Wallace said the company sees an opportunity for lutikizumab both as a standalone treatment and as part of a "one-two punch" with Rinvoq in HS.

RBC ‌Capital analysts expect the ​market for hidradenitis suppurativa treatments to exceed $10 billion ‌by 2035. Other candidates ⁠in development ​include Novartis' remibrutinib as well as Merck's tulisokibart.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Shailesh Kuber)

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