Zasocitinib outperforms deucravacitinib in Phase III psoriasis study

Takeda has reported new Phase III data showing that zasocitinib achieved significantly greater skin clearance than deucravacitinib in adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

The findings come from the head to head LATITUDE Atlas study and were presented alongside additional results from the LATITUDE PsO 3001 and 3002 trials at the 2026 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress.

Zasocitinib, also known as TAK 279, is an investigational oral tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor being developed as a once daily treatment for plaque psoriasis.

In LATITUDE Atlas, zasocitinib demonstrated statistical superiority over deucravacitinib across the primary endpoint and all key secondary efficacy measures.

At week 16, 36.5% of patients receiving zasocitinib achieved complete skin clearance, measured by PASI 100, compared with 13.9% of patients receiving deucravacitinib.

This meant more than two and a half times as many patients achieved complete clearance with zasocitinib.

Higher rates of complete skin clearance were already observed from week eight.

At week 16, 62.5% of patients treated with zasocitinib achieved PASI 90 compared with 34.0% in the deucravacitinib group.

Clear skin according to a static Physician Global Assessment score of zero was achieved by 43.2% of patients receiving zasocitinib compared with 18.5% of those receiving deucravacitinib.

All three comparisons were statistically significant with p values below 0.001.

Chinwe Ukomadu, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President and Head of Takeda’s Gastrointestinal and Inflammation Therapeutic Area Unit, said the Phase III programme has shown consistent skin clearance across different patient groups and difficult to treat areas.

He said the head to head results further support the potential of zasocitinib as an oral treatment option for psoriasis.

Takeda also presented longer term findings from the pivotal LATITUDE PsO 3001 and 3002 trials.

Among patients who had achieved a response by week 24, up to 93% maintained their level of skin clearance through week 52 in LATITUDE PsO 3001 and through week 40 in LATITUDE PsO 3002.

Additional analyses showed that improvements in symptoms and quality of life began early in treatment.

Patients receiving zasocitinib reported greater reductions in psoriasis symptoms, including itch, from week two compared with placebo and, in LATITUDE PsO 3002, compared with apremilast.

By week four, a greater proportion of zasocitinib treated patients achieved a Dermatology Life Quality Index score of zero or one, indicating that psoriasis had little or no effect on their quality of life.

Linda Stein Gold, MD, Director of Dermatology Clinical Research at Henry Ford Health and principal investigator of LATITUDE Atlas, said plaque psoriasis can affect sleep, daily activities and overall wellbeing beyond the visible skin symptoms.

She said the Phase III findings demonstrate both rapid and durable skin clearance while also showing improvements in itch and quality of life.

Zasocitinib was generally well tolerated across the LATITUDE programme, with no new safety signals identified.

The most commonly reported adverse events across the Phase III psoriasis studies were upper respiratory tract infection, nasopharyngitis and acne.

The safety profile remained consistent with earlier Phase III findings.

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Related Topics and Keywords

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