China Green Lights Novartis’ Cosentyx for Psoriasis

China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has approved Novartis’ Cosentyx (secukinumab) as a psoriasis treatment.

An interleukin-17A inhibitor, Cosentyx was approved by the Chinese regulator for treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients who are candidates for phototherapy or systemic therapy.

Novartis noted that the drug is the “first and only human treatment for psoriasis” that specifically inhibits the protein IL-17A, which in high levels has been associated with inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, MS and psoriasis.