With an impressive victory over blockbuster products in three head-to-head psoriasis clinical trials, UCB’s Bimzelx has conquered another strong product in psoriatic arthritis (PsA), AbbVie’s Skyrizi.
The Belgian company said the Phase 3b study in 553 adults with active psoriatic arthritis met its primary objective, showing Bimzerx had a “statistically significant superiority” over Skyridi in reducing disease activity as measured by the ACR50 endpoint at week 16.
ACR50 is a composite efficacy measure designated by the American College of Rheumatology that indicates a 50% or greater improvement from baseline in the number of tender or swollen joints, in addition to a 50% improvement in three of five other disease markers.
According to UCB, this is the first time that an approved treatment has been demonstrated to be superior to IL-23 inhibitors such as Skyrizi in PsA. Bimzelx is the first therapy to selectively inhibit IL-17F and IL-17A pro-inflammatory proteins.
The study included adults with active PsA who were new to biologic therapy or had an inadequate response to certain TNF inhibitors. UCB said it would publish the results at a medical conference in the first half of this year.
This is another victory for Bimzerx, which has already outperformed Novartis’ IL-17 Cosentyx, Johnson & Johnson’s IL-12 and IL-23 Stelara, and AbbVie’s TNF inhibitor Humira in previous psoriasis studies.
Analysts at Jefferies said a win against Skyridi “will help Bimzerx gain share in the rheumatology space.” But they also noted that the UCB release “omits mention of a secondary endpoint that was supposed to capture point joint and skin clearance.”
“Given that IL-23 typically performs well in skin clearance, we are interested in confirming its direct performance here,” Jeffries wrote in a note Wednesday. “Unresolved questions may dampen enthusiasm until clarity is provided.”
Bimzelx’s sales increased significantly from 607 million euros ($716 million) in its first full year on the market to 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in 2025. Annual sales were already at half of the company’s peak sales forecast of 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion), but Jefferies’ memo indicated that UCB “tends to lead conservatively.”
Bimzerx helped UCB’s 2025 revenue increase by 26% to 7.7 billion euros ($8.7 billion).
Bimzelx’s rapid uptake mirrors that of Skyrizi, which generated $355 million in sales in its first full year on the market, followed by $1.6 billion in 2020 and $2.9 billion the following year. Last year, Skyrizi generated $17.6 billion in revenue.
In addition to indications for psoriasis and PsA, Skyrizi is also approved for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. In addition to psoriasis and PsA, Bimzelx is also approved for active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, active ankylosing spondylitis, and most forms of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).
