Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cosentyx®
(secukinumab) for the treatment of two new indications - adults with
active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
AS and PsA are both life-long, painful and debilitating inflammatory
diseases that affect the joints and/or spine. If not treated
effectively, both conditions can lead to irreversible joint and/or
spinal bone damage caused by years of inflammation.
Cosentyx is the first in a new class of medicines called interleukin-17A
(IL-17A) inhibitors to treat both AS and PsA. The two new indications
follow the earlier FDA approval for Cosentyx in January 2015 to treat
adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, and European
approval for AS and PsA in November 2015.
In the US, it is estimated that up to 0.5% of the population have AS, and
up to 1% live with PsA. If not treated effectively, these
conditions can lead to irreversible damage to the spine and joints,
causing life-long pain and disability that can have a negative impact on
even simple tasks in life. There is an urgent unmet need for new
medicines for these conditions. Currently many patients are
dissatisfied with their treatments, and up to 40% do not respond
sufficiently to anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNFs) therapy.
