Lilly scraps IL-23 psoriasis program despite phase 3 success, focuses on IBD race against AbbVie, J&J

Eli Lilly has scrapped plans to seek approval for mirikizumab in psoriasis. Lilly chose not to enter the crowded market despite the anti-IL-23p19 antibody outperforming Novartis' Cosentyx in a phase 3 trial last year.

AbbVie’s anti-IL-23 antibody Skyrizi and Johnson & Johnson’s Tremfya and Stelara, which hits IL-12 and IL-23, are already approved in plaque psoriasis. Despite trailing other anti-IL-23 drugs, Lilly moved mirikizumab into a broad phase 3 program that included three psoriasis studies, including a long-term assessment of its safety and maintenance of treatment effect.