Novartis bags a new eczema drug, builds dermatology pipeline with Ziarco buyout
Two days after Pfizer won an FDA approval for a new drug for atopic dermatitis which it acquired in a $5.2 billion buyout, Novartis has stepped in to snap up a mid-stage eczema rival that was spun out of the wreckage Pfizer left behind at Sandwich. Novartis, which generally hates to discuss deal terms, is keeping the numbers under wraps for now.
The object of its affection is Ziarco, a 5-year-old upstart that has gathered positive midstage data together for ZPL389, an oral drug that achieved statistically significant results for its H4 receptor antagonist. The Phase IIa delivered a 50% drop in EASI scores at 8 week, compared to 27% for the placebo. And the SCORAD marks registered a drop of 43% against 26%. The Phase IIb was slated to start in the second half of this year.
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