Idera says drug safe, well tolerated in psoriasis study

(Reuters) – Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc said its lead experimental drug for the most common form of psoriasis was found to be safe and well tolerated by patients after 12 weeks of treatment in a mid-stage trial. Idera said the drug, codenamed IMO-8400, reduced the severity of skin lesions in patients with plaque psoriasis, compared with a placebo. Idera said data from the study would support the drug’s development as a treatment for rare autoimmune diseases and B-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, with certain genetic mutations. The data provides some validation of the drug’s mechanism both for future B-cell lymphoma studies and for the potential of Idera’s other drug, IMO-9200, Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff wrote in a note.