Latest big player cleared to fight for psoriatic arthritis market

US drug giant Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) Xeljanz (tofacitinib) is already fighting a battle for market share in one of pharma’s most competitive indications – and now it is about to enter another crowded but potentially lucrative space.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Xeljanz 5mg twice daily and Xeljanz extended release 11mg once daily for the treatment of adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to methotrexate or other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

Xeljanz was the first Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor to be approved by the FDA for moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, and its annual sales are set to be in excess of $1 billion for the first time in 2017.