"Johnson  Johnson said its drug Tremfya was found to be more effective than a rival medicine from Novartis AG in reducing the severity and affected area in adults with moderatetosevere plaque psoriasis in a latestage study.  After  weeks of therapy . percent of the  participants treated with Tremfya showed  percent improvement in disease symptoms as measured by the Psoriasis Area Severity Index compared with  percent on Novartiss Cosentyx JJ said.  JJ is positioning Tremfya as a better alternative to Cosentyx as it seeks to take market share away from Novartiss drug which was launched two years ago and is among the topselling treatments in the  billion global psoriasis market.  That market is expected to double to . billion by  according to U.S. consultant Grand View Research.  With . billion in sales in  Cosentyx has become one of the top revenue earners for Novartis and is expected to make up for falling revenue from its blood cancer treatment Gleevec whose patent expired two years ago.  On a media briefing following the release of JJs trial results Novartis said it expected the data to have limited clinical relevance and no impact on plans to expand the Cosentyx label.  JJ also said Cosentyx demonstrated quicker effectiveness than Tremfya during the study.  These results imply that Cosentyx remains a good option for moderatetosevere psoriasis patients that want to achieve more rapid skin clearance brokerage Jefferies wrote in a note following the results.  We see Cosentyx secure as a mainstay psoriasis therapy.  Psoriasis is a chronic condition that causes an overproduction of skin cells resulting in inflamed red lesions or plaques which can be itchy and painful.  About . million Americans live with plaque psoriasis of which  percent have moderatetosevere form of the disease JJ said.  Tremfya first approved in July  as a plaque psoriasis treatment in the United States is also being tested as a for psoriatic arthritis and Crohns disease.  Shares of JJ closed up marginally at . U.S.listed shares of Novartis closed up . percent .  Reporting by Manogna Maddipatla and Tamara Mathias and Aakash Jagadeesh Babu in Bengaluru Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Sriraj Kalluvila"