molecules of the month

A potential next best-in-class allosteric TYK2 inhibitor exhibits strong Ph. II results for plaque psoriasis. Takeda Pharmaceuticals has announced positive results for TAK-279 in Ph. IIb for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis (PsO). Just disclosed last year, TAK-279 (formerly known as NDI-034858) was acquired by Takeda from Nimbus in a recent $4 billion dollar deal. The Nimbus TYK2 research program was started to compete with BMS's deucravacitinib in a research collaboration with Celgene, including a Joint Steering Committee and Celgene scientists contributing, but after BMS's acquisition of Celgene, Nimbus had to firewall Celgene and sue for rights back to the molecule. This oral, allosteric TYK2 inhibitor reduced the severity of PsO for ~68% of patients at a 15 or…