German Merck targets Phase III development of enpatoran

Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) plans to move its investigational lupus drug enpatoran into late-stage development, after new Phase II data showed clinically meaningful improvement in skin manifestations of the disease among treated patients.

The company reported results from the mid-stage WILLOW trial at the International Congress on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, ongoing in Toronto. Enpatoran, an oral inhibitor of toll-like receptors TLR7 and TLR8, is being developed for both cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Merck said enpatoran achieved statistically-significant improvements in skin disease activity at 16 weeks, with the treatment also showing a dose-response trend. By week 24, 60.9% of patients on the drug had achieved at least a 70% reduction in CLASI-A scores, versus 11.5% for those on placebo.