By Siddhi Mahatole

(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Novartis’ oral treatment for patients with type of chronic inflammatory skin disease, the Swiss drugmaker said on Tuesday.

The twice-daily pill, Rhapsido, is approved for patients with symptoms of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) despite standard therapies.

CSU is a long-term skin condition without a known cause, characterized by recurring hives – itchy, red welts – and sometimes swelling, lasting six weeks or more.

Rhapsido will cost $4,521 in the U.S. for 30 days and will be available to patients in the coming days, a company spokesperson told Reuters in an email.

The approval is based on results from two late-stage studies in which Rhapsido showed statistically significant improvements over placebo

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