On Monday, Swiss drug company Novartis AG said that it has been shown in the new trial results that Cosentyx or secukinumab was much better than placebo. The trial also showed continual efficacy over one year in patients suffering from psoriatic arthritis.

The one year results of the Phase III FUTURE 2 Study have been published in the medical journal Lancet. Novartis said that secukinumab showed fast onset of action and was considerably superior to placebo, when it comes to working on signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis or PsA and efficacy was sustained over one year.

As per reports, Secukinumab is the first interleukin-17A or IL-17A inhibitor that shows efficacy in a Phase III study in adult patients with active PsA. It is a long-term, weakening, inflammatory disease linked to skin and nail psoriasis, joint pain and stiffness, swollen toes and fingers, persistent painful tendonitis in addition to irreversible joint damage.

The new study results demonstrate improvements with subcutaneous secukinumab 300 mg and 150 mg that were sustained over one year of treatment in most of the patients.

According to Vasant Narasimhan, Global Head of Development, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, "Secukinumab is the first IL-17A inhibitor to show consistent efficacy through one year in Psoriatic Arthritis, Psoriasis, and Ankylosing spondylitis. Novartis has recently filed global regulatory submissions for secukinumab in both psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis”.

Narasimhan added that the company will carry on working to bring this significant progress to patients suffering from these debilitating diseases. Novartis closed Friday's trading at $99.92, which fell $0.90 or 0.89% on a volume of 1.51 million shares.