2010 Innovative Product Award

Janssen-Ortho Inc.
Ustekinumab (STELARA)

Psoriasis, a common immune mediated skin disease, affects approximately one million Canadian adults between the ages of 15 to 35 with 75% of people developing it before the age of 40. Plaque psoriasis is the most common form and affects approximately 80% of those suffering from the condition. It imposes a physical and mental burden that extends far beyond the dermatological symptoms. Not treating psoriasis can lead to other more serious health problems.

STELARA (ustekinumab) is a monoclonal antibody developed by GenPharm (now Medarex) and marketed by Janssen-Ortho for psoriasis. It is a first-in-class biologic product that targets and inhibits two interleukins, IL-12 and IL-23, two cytokines involved in the pathogenesis of certain chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disorders, such as psoriasis, that affect millions of people worldwide. It is the first therapeutic monoclonal antibody approved for human use that was developed with transgenic mice engineered to express human antibodies.

It is the first therapeutic monoclonal antibody approved for human use that was developed with transgenic mice engineered to express human antibodies.

STELARA is efficacious and safe in the treatment of chronic moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. It offers some advantages over the other treatments available such as ease of use, longer duration of action and a comparable or slightly better cost/benefit ratio that the other biologics presently used.

The Innovative Product Award is presented annually to the company that has developed a drug judged by the Prix Galien Canada jury to have made the greatest contribution to the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease, a disorder, an abnormal physical state or the symptoms thereof, in humans and animals. The selected drug will have shown highly positive effects on patient care in Canada in terms of safety and innovation.