(Bloomberg) -- Sanofi’s blockbuster skin and asthma drug Dupixent significantly reduced itching in patients with chronic hives, paving the way for the resubmission of the drug for this condition.
The treatment resulted in an almost 50% decrease in scores relating to itching and hives in a late-stage trial, confirming results from an earlier study, Sanofi said Wednesday.
Dupixent is being tested as a treatment for the condition, which is also known as chronic spontaneous urticaria. About 30% of patients treated with Dupixent reported no hives, compared to 18% who received a placebo along with standard-of-care antihistamines.
Sanofi shares fell 0.8% in early Paris trading, trimming the gain this year to 17%.
The results clear the path for Dupixent’s resubmission as a therapy for chronic hives in the US, Sanofi said. The US Food and Drug Administration in 2023 asked for more efficacy data to support approval of the drug for the inflammatory skin condition.
Separately, Sanofi also reported that Dupixent succeeded in a phase 2/3 study of adults with moderate to severe bullous pemphigoid, a rare skin condition that mostly affects people age 60 and up.
Dupixent is already a significant moneymaker for Sanofi, with sales of the drug climbing to a record €3.3 billion ($3.6 billion) last quarter. More than a million patients are being treated with the therapy for various conditions.
European regulators in July approved Dupixent to treat a chronic lung condition, making it the first new treatment approach for that illness in more than a decade. Sanofi sees a significant new market for the medicine in chronic hives, with more than 300,000 people in the US living with cases of the illness that aren’t adequately controlled by antihistamines.
(Updates with bullous pemphigoid trial in sixth paragraph)
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