Dong-A ST Co., Ltd. announced on January 16th that therapeutic equivalence and safety were established between DMB-3115 and Stelara, the reference drug, in global phase III. Stelara is a blockbuster drug developed by Janssen Biotech Inc. and indicated for plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis; it recorded USD 16.8 billion (IQVIA, MAT Sept 2022) sales worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing biologic medicines. DMB-3115 global phase III first kicked off in the US back in 2021 and then in eight European countries, including Poland, Estonia, and Latvia, with a total patient number of 605 over 52 weeks.

Patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis were treated with DMB-3115 or Stelara PFS to compare efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity. The trial was performed as a randomized, double-blinded, multicenter, parallel, and active-control study. In accordance with the recommendation from the regulatory agencies, primary endpoint time frames were set as Week 8 and Week 12 for the EMA and the FDA, respectively.

DMB-3115 and Stelara demonstrated therapeutic equivalence when looking at percent change from baseline in PASI (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index) at Week 8 and Week 12. Similarly, there was no clinically significant difference in safety. As the results are met for their differing recommendation of EMA and the FDA, the data is expected to be received more positively when submitted for marketing authorization to the respective agencies.

Dong-A Socio Holdings and Meiji Seika Pharma began joint development for DMB-3115 in 2013, and the rights of Dong-A Socio Holdings for R&D and commercialization were transferred to Dong-A ST in July 2020 for efficient project management; since then, Dong-A ST and Meiji Seika Pharma worked together for the development of the drug.