Clever Marketing Needed To Position J&J's New Psoriasis Drug Ahead Of Cheaper Options

Despite being able to show superiority over market leader AbbVie's Humira (adalimumab), Johnson & Johnson will need to invest heavily in order to drive uptake for guselkumab if the drug is successfully approved next year for the treatment of psoriasis.

Balloons — J&J's New Psoriasis Drug Will Have Stiff Competition If Approved On Back Of Strong PhIII Data • Source: Shutterstock

Johnson & Johnson's anti-interleukin-23 therapy, guselkumab, has produced stronger efficacy data in VOYAGE 1, the first ever Phase III study to directly compare an IL inhibitor against anti-TNF-alpha treatment Humira (AbbVie Inc.’s adalimumab) in psoriasis patients – but uptake might still be a challenge in the early treatment setting because of the number of cheaper alternatives on the market.

J&J is aiming to position guselkumab early in the psoriasis treatment algorithm by directly comparing it to the current standard...