Roche’s Rituxan Cures Rare Skin-Blistering Disease in Study

Roche Holding AG’s top-selling drug Rituxan effectively cured most cases of a rare and deadly skin disease in a patient study that suggests the medicine may replace steroids as the standard treatment.

In a trial among 22 people with severe pemphigus, a disorder marked by blisters on the skin and in the mouth and genitals, 59 percent were symptom-free more than six years after treatment with a single dose of Rituxan, researchers at France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Rouen wrote in the journal Science Translational Medicine today.