Promising Phase 3 trial results show biologic therapy ustekinumab significantly improved...( BUENOS AIRES Argentina October 3 200...),Health

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, October 3, 2007 The first reported findings from an international, Phase 3 study showed that more than two-thirds of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis receiving two doses of ustekinumab (CNTO 1275) achieved at least a 75 percent reduction in psoriasis at week 12, the primary endpoint of the study, as measured by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75). Importantly, findings also showed that following one additional dose at week 16, a substantial proportion of patients receiving ustekinumab maintained a PASI 75 response through week 28. Data from the study, presented at the World Congress of Dermatology, involved more than 1,200 subjects and showed that within four weeks of initiating treatment with ustekinumab, patients experienced significant and clinically meaningful improvements in quality of life measures compared with patients receiving placebo. Ustekinumab is a new, fully-human monoclonal antibody with a novel mechanism of action that targets the cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin-23 (IL-23), and is currently in Phase 3 development by Centocor, Inc. for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

These data, presented at the 21st meeting of the World Congress of Dermatology, will be the subject of a live press briefing and webcast (www.cnto1275wcd.com) today at 2 p.m. EDT featuring Craig Leonardi, MD, St. Louis University Medical School, St. Louis, MO, Kristian Reich, MD, Georg-August-University, Gttingen, Germany, Silvia Fernandez Barrio, executive director, Civil Association of Psoriasis Patients of Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Tom Schaible, PhD, vice president, Medical Affairs, Centocor, Inc.

These findings provide further evidence of the role of IL-12/23 in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and the promise that a new therapeutic approach like ustekinumab may hold for dermatologists and their patients living w
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