Trending News Today: Psoriasis Drug Tremfya Beats Rival Medication in Late-Stage Trial

Officials with the FDA have declined to approve Mallinckrodt’s abuse deterrent version of Roxicodone, Reuters reported. According to the article, the decision came despite an advisory panel to the FDA voting 10-7 in favor of approving the drug. During the meeting, panel members also raised concerns that Mallinckrodt’s treatment would increase intravenous abuse, the same problem seen with Endo’s reformulated Opana ER, the article reported.

Johnson & Johnson’s psoriasis drug Tremfya was shown to be more effective than rival medication Cosentyx in a late-stage trial, according to Reuters. The study, which involved 1048 participants, demonstrated that Tremfya was superior to Cosentyx in reducing the severity and area of the body affected by psoriasis, the article reported. Based on the data, 84.5% of patients treated with Tremfya showed a 90% improvement in disease symptoms after 48 weeks of therapy compared with 70% of those treated with Cosentyx.

On Tuesday, the House approved a proposal aimed at cracking down on tactics used by drug manufacturers to charge Medicaid, The Hill reported. The bipartisan bill from Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore) would give the Department of Health and Human Services new authority to reclassify a drug and recoup rebates when a manufacturer deliberately misclassifies a drug in order to pay lower rebates, according to the article. Wyden and Grassley specifically cited Mylan and the EpiPen when introducing the bill.