Developing Targeted Therapies for a Rare Autoimmune Disease

Dermatomyositis is a rare multi-organ autoimmune condition that primarily affects the skin and muscles. It causes fatigue, muscle weakness, and painful skin rashes. Treatment for the condition has long centered on the use of chronic systemic steroids, which can carry long term toxicity. Priovant is developing brepocitinib, a dual TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor originally developed at Pfizer to treat the condition. We spoke to Ben Zimmer, CEO of Priovant, about the company’s experimental targeted therapy to treat dermatomyositis, how its relationship with its parent Roivant frees it from reliance on the capital markets, and the broader potential of n the treatment.