Amgen and development partner Kyowa Kirin shared data from a trio of studies evaluating rocatinlimab in patients with atopic dermatitis this weekend, which could help pave the candidate's path towards becoming the first-ever approved OX40 inhibitor.However, despite the positive results, experts and analysts foresee rocantinlimab's use mostly being relegated to second-line settings — and it will likely have to contend with competition from Sanofi's rival OX40-targeting programme, amlitelimab.For an in-depth look at the two OX40 assets and their respective presentations at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) meeting, see Spotlight On: AAD25 – Sanofi looks like one to beat in OX40 faceoff with Amgen.Successive successes Amgen and Kyowa shared results this weekend from three studies within their Phase III ROCKET programme: IGNITE, SHUTTLE and HORIZON. The HORIZON data were presented in a late-breaking abstract at AAD, while the SHUTTLE and IGNITE readouts were published in a release that coincided with the conference.The IGNITE trial — which evaluated both a low and high dose of the OX40 inhibitor given once-monthly — enrolled 769 patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, including those previously treated with a biologic or JAK inhibitor. In the 24-week study, both doses of rocatinlimab demonstrated statistically significant reductions in disease activity, as measured by the co-primary endpoints. About 42% of patients who received the high, 300-mg dose of rocatlinlimab achieved a ≥75% improvement in Eczema Area and Severity Index score (EASI 75) versus 12.8% for placebo. Among those treated with the lower dose, 36.3% reached EASI 75 compared with 12.9% for placebo. In addition, 23.6% of patients in the high-dose arm achieved a validated Investigator's Global Assessment score of 0 or 1 with a ≥2-point reduction from baseline (vIGA-AD 0/1), versus 8.7% for placebo; the low-dose group saw a 19.1% rate on the same measure, compared with 8.8% for placebo.The 746-patient SHUTTLE study, which evaluated the same two doses of rocatinlimab, but in combination with topical corticosteroids and/or topical calcineurin inhibitors, achieved statistical significance on the same two efficacy markers. On the EASI-75 endpoint, 52.3% and 54.1% of patients in the high- and low-dose groups, respectively, met the disease severity threshold compared with 23.6% and 23.7% of placebo recipients. Similarly, 26.1% and 25.8% of participants taking high and low doses of rocatinlimab, respectively, achieved a significant vIGA-AD 0/1 score; the placebo arms each saw a rate of 12.3%. Data from HORIZON were initially top-lined in September.While the earlier readout showed that rocatinlimab met one of the two co-primary endpoints, with 32.8% of patients given the drug achieving EASI 75 at week 24 versus 13.7% for placebo, the data failed to impress analysts, who pointed to better efficacy seen with Sanofi's Dupixent (dupilumab) (see – KOL Views Q&A: Phase III win for Amgen’s rocatinlimab augurs well for OX40 blockers in atopic dermatitis). The latest update to HORIZON didn't seem to move the needle much this weekend. For the study's other main measurement, vIGA-AD 0/1, about 19.3% of rocatinlimab recipients saw a score of 0 or 1, vs 6.6% for placebo. In a note issued Sunday, Morgan Stanley analysts echoed their previous assertion that rocatinlimab will likely end up serving as a second-line therapy behind Dupixent.