So we do think that the concept of TYK2 inhibition being an effective therapy for psoriatic arthritis is likely to be further confirmed with the Nimbus-Takeda data. And we wouldn’t be surprised to see an effect that’s at least as good and possibly a little better than what was seen with deucravacitinib and we think that opens up the opportunity for other TYK2 inhibitors with excellent target coverage, like VTX958.
Chris Shibutani: And on the Crohn’s enrollment pace?
Bill Sandborn: Yes. We’ve always resisted being too granular about that as we’ve gone along. We have a lot of learnings around them. In my view, we were quite successful in the ulcerative colitis program with getting the right CRO, the right country mix, the right number of sites, effectively interacting with the investigators and getting the trial enrolled in a timely basis. And we’ve taken all those learnings as a young company and applied to the Crohn’s program. There are many common sites between the ulcerative colitis and the Crohn’s programs, which allowed us to leverage contract negotiations. We had relationships with the sites, with the investigators, with the study coordinators, and all those things. And so we have all those synergies going for us in the Crohn’s trial.
And I’ll just say, from my standpoint, the site activation rates that we had planned were on track, the patient enrollment rates are on track, and I feel confident that we can deliver the results next year. I’m going to wait another quarter or two before we start to narrow the band around when exactly next year. But for our internal metrics, we’re absolutely on track for where we intend to be right now. And the trajectory is strong to stay on track.
Chris Shibutani: Great. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question will come from Emily Bodnar with Wainwright.
Emily Bodnar: Hi. Thanks for taking the questions. Maybe just to follow up on the previous question on psoriatic arthritis, if you can kind of talk about how you think about the bar for you internally versus subject to Phase 2 data so far? And then also Bristol talked about evaluating Sotyktu for other indications, like SLE and alopecia. Are those indications that you think might make sense for a TYK2 inhibitor? And are those ones that you’d maybe consider for VTX958? Thank you.
Raju Mohan: Bill?
Bill Sandborn: Yes. Until we have more data with the Nimbus-Takeda products, we have sort of another data set with the implied target coverage and things across the range of doses. I think right now, the floor benchmark should probably really be what was seen with deucravacitinib and maybe say that it’s what was seen with the 12 milligram dose as opposed to the 6 milligram dose. If you do cross mechanism of action comparisons, those data with the 12 milligram dose actually look pretty favorable to other agents, even JAK inhibitors. So let’s see as we get some more data in that field how high the floor can raise, but that’s probably how we would think about it. For other indications, I’m not aware that there are any data yet for alopecia.
It’s interesting. There is some logic to it. And we’re, of course, thinking about different indications, including whether there are any beyond psoriasis and dermatology. I haven’t pulled the trigger to go into that space yet, but we’re watching that with interest. For lupus, you’ll recall that really interleukin 12/23 inhibition with Stelara was ultimately not effective. So I’m a little bit skeptical about IL-23 inhibition with that. But of course you have the interferon alpha side and that looks good. So I think for TYK2 inhibition, that’s certainly an opportunity for us and one that is differentiated from the IL-12/23 and IL-23 antibodies where lupus cannot be a target. These are large trials. The endpoints are sort of squishy. If you’ll remember, the Phase 2 study, deucravacitinib in lupus, as I recall, it was 360 patients, about 90 patients per arm for three doses plus placebo.
