Takeda’s psoriasis pill developed with AI assistance succeeds in trials
Takeda Pharmaceutical announced that its oral psoriasis drug zasocitinib proved safe and effective in late-stage trials, marking a milestone in its effort to treat the incurable skin condition and offset looming revenue pressure.
Patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who took the once-daily pill showed significantly clearer skin compared with those on placebo or the existing therapy apremilast, the company said in a statement Thursday. Takeda plans to submit data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulators beginning in fiscal year 2026.
If approved, zasocitinib would join the small but growing oral psoriasis treatments — long a market dominated by ointments and injectable antibody therapies — and stand out as one of the first drugs discovered with the help of artificial intelligence.
Algorithms significantly accelerated the identification of zasocitinib from a vast pool of molecules for testing, according to Jeb Keiper, chief executive officer at Nimbus Therapeutics, which discovered the medicine.
Takeda bought zasocitinib, also known as TAK-279, from Boston-based Nimbus in 2023 for $4 billion upfront plus up to $2 billion in milestone payments. The therapy is part of Takeda’s strategy to cushion an expected sales decline once its blockbuster ulcerative colitis drug Entyvio faces generic competition.
TAK-279 could generate $5 billion in peak sales if it succeeds in broader indications such as inflammatory bowel disease, said Stephen Barker, an analyst at Jefferies Japan.
The global psoriasis treatment market, valued at $27 billion in 2024, is projected to nearly double to $58 billion by 2032, according to research firm Fortune Business Insights. Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes rashes marked by itchy, scaly rashes and afflicts more than 125 million people worldwide.
