Doctors and investors are getting their first glimpse of the data that compelled Takeda Pharmaceutical to make a $6 billion bet on an experimental pill. The drug, which it acquired from Boston biotech Nimbus Therapeutics last month, blocks a key lever in the immune system that Takeda believes has the potential to treat numerous autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
In an intermediate-stage clinical study of 259 people with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, the highest dose of the daily pill completely cleared itchy and painful patches of skin in one-third of the patients after 12 weeks. “We’re offering the potential for a functional cure,” Andrew Plump, Takeda’s president of research and development, said in an interview.
