Two doses of Novartis’ new treatment for chronic hives cleared the skin of more patients than Xolair, its Roche-partnered asthma drug that scored approval for the skin condition in 2014. The highest dose of the drug, ligelizumab, banished hives in 51% of patients, compared to 26% of patients taking Xolair.

The phase 2b study tested ligelizumab, an antibody that targets the IgE/FceR1 pathway, patients with chronic spontaneous urtucaria (CSU), or chronic hives, who couldn’t control their symptoms with the standard of care, H1-antihistamines.