Takeda Pharmaceutical from Japan said on December 17, 2025, that its experimental pill for a type of skin disease, which is developed using artificial intelligence, has succeeded in two late-stage studies.
Over half of the plaque psoriasis patients throughout the studies went on to show clear or almost clear skin post 16 weeks of treatment with the once-daily drug, zasocitinib, the company confirmed.
Takeda looks forward to filing marketing applications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – US FDA and also other regulatory authorities in 2026.
If approved, zasocitinib will then join a crowded plaque psoriasis patients market that features pretty well-established oral rivals such as Sotyktu from Bristol Myers and Otezla from Amgen, plus injectables that include the likes of Tremfya from Johnson & Johnson, Skyrizi from AbbVie, and also Cosentyx from Novartis.
This zasocitinib data goes on to outstrip Sotyktu and looks as good as or even better than oral IL‑23s such as icotrokinra, which is close to a best‑case scenario, said Michael Nedelcovych, the TD Cowen analyst.
He further added that he remains pretty cautious on the overall oral psoriasis opportunity; however, he is receptive to the $3 billion to $6 billion peak sales target by Takeda.
It is well to be noted that the pill from Takeda goes on to offer a convenient everyday alternative alongside the likes of Sotyktu as well as Otezla in a market that is pretty much dominated by injectable drugs so as to treat plaque psoriasis, wherein red and scaly patches take place on the skin because of an overactive immune system.
Takeda’s president of R&D, Andy Plump, told Reuters in an interview that the level of efficacy that they are seeing, blended with the safety profile and with the convenience of administration, is pretty unique in this spectrum.
The drugmaker went on to acquire zasocitinib from Nimbus Therapeutics in 2022 in a deal that was valued at around $6 billion. Nimbus had gone on to identify the compound with the help of AI, a trend that is picking up pace within the pharmaceutical sector as companies are looking to speed up the development of medicines.
Plump went on to confirm that Takeda plans to make AI a core part of how it goes on to discover new medicines and also added that the company has aspirations to enable all drug discovery as well as drug development with the help of AI.
