Abbott withdraws its FDA application to market its experimental biologic briakinumab for psoriasis

Bad news today, as Abbott announced that it has withdrawn its application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European regulators to market its much-anticipated, experimental psoriasis treatment briakinumab (ABT-874). The biologic, like Centocor Ortho Biotech’s Stelara (ustekinumab), targets two proteins, IL-12 and IL-23. Briakinumab has demonstrated very powerful effectiveness in improving psoriasis symptoms, but safety concerns have apparently prompted this delay.  Our full analysis is here:  http://www.psoriasis-cure-now.org/2011/01/15/abbott-withdraws-appli... .