Lit­tle Der­mi­ra’s shares zoom up on promis­ing PhI­Ib atopic der­mati­tis da­ta — but the road ahead is ul­tra risky and flanked by heav­i­ly armed gi­ants

Just over 18 months since Der­mi­ra agreed to pay Roche some $135 mil­lion in near-term cash for its dis­ap­point­ing IL-13 an­ti-in­flam­ma­to­ry drug le­brik­izum­ab, hus­tling it straight in­to a $200 mil­lion mid-stage study for atopic der­mati­tis, the biotech claims to have the ef­fi­ca­cy da­ta to back up its claims that they have a block­buster on their hands.

Now they’re run­ning it in­to a piv­otal pro­gram, long af­ter the drug floun­dered in asth­ma un­der the phar­ma gi­ant.

Lit­tle Der­mi­ra is tak­ing on the 600-pound go­ril­la in atopic der­mati­tis: the IL-13/IL-4 drug Dupix­ent, from Re­gen­eron and Sanofi. And it won’t be easy.

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