Oruka Therapeutics' Psoriasis Treatment Maintains 'Competitive Profile' After Positive Clinical Data, UBS Says

Oruka Therapeutics' (ORKA) lead program of long-acting IL-23 in moderate-to-severe psoriasis maintains a "competitive profile" after positive week 28 clinical data, UBS said in a Wednesday note.

Oruka's ORKA-001 increased its Psoriasis Area and Severity Index-100 score, which represents the complete resolution of psoriasis, to 71% from 64% in week 16. This compares favorably with rival product, AbbVie's (ABBV) Skyrizi, which rose to 53% from 43% in the same period, UBS analysts said.

The safety data was also consistent with prior data, as treatment-emergent adverse events were 36% in the period of week 16 to 28, compared with 51% during week zero to 16. There were also no injection site reactions and no impact of anti-drug antibodies on safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics, the analysts noted.

The analysts said they are confident in the company's multiple additional readouts later in the year to be positive, "given the de-risking provided by previous datasets".

UBS' rating on the company's stock is buy with a price target of $130.

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