Week 16 coprimary endpoints of PASI 75 response and sPGA score improved in the majority of patients and was overall maintained through week 52. Deucravacitinib therapy was also associated with a low AE rate. This study presented results from the POETYK PSO-4 trial on the safety and efficacy of deucravacitinib 6mg QD in Japanese patients with psoriasis.

This pooled analysis of the Phase 3 PSO-1 and PSO-2 trials shows that deucravacitinib has greater efficacy in treating scalp PsO than placebo and apremilast. At week 16, response rates were greater with deucravacitinib versus placebo or apremilast for scalp-specific Physician Global Assessment 0/1 and Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index. Efficacy was maintained through 52 weeks in patients who received continuous deucravacitinib treatment.

Here, investigators reported that efficacy measures for skin and scalp were significantly greater for apremilast than for placebo in patients with PsO at baseline. Previously, clinical study data has highlighted that the use of apremilast leads to a reduction in the expression within the epidermis of numerous inflammatory cytokines relevant to PsO. As a result, ESTEEM 1 evaluated the efficacy/safety of apremilast at 30 mg BID for moderate to severe PsO.

Bimekizumab versus adalimumab in plaque psoriasis

N Engl J Med 2021; 385:130–41. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2102388

Bimekizumab was noninferior and superior to adalimumab with respect to PASI 90 response and IGA score at Week 16. Bimekizumab is a promising IL-17A/F inhibitor that has shown clinical improvement in PsO patients compared to placebo and other IL inhibitors. Warren et al. compared the safety and efficacy of bimekizumab with adalimumab in a 56-week double-blind trial.

This Phase 3 study by Strober, et al. reports deucravacitinib superiority to placebo and apremilast in patients with PsO. The authors found that deucravacitinib had significantly higher rates of PASI 75 and sPGA achievement than placebo and deucravacitinib.

Deucravacitinib has shown efficacy in the treatment of both skin and joint disease. As a result, researchers sought to compare the efficacy and safety of deucravacitinib versus placebo and apremilast in adults with moderate to severe plaque PsO.

March 2024

This study by Rech, et al. shows that 6-month treatment with abatacept was associated with a decrease in MRI inflammation, clinical symptoms, and risk of RA development in participants at high risk. The effects of the intervention persist through a 1-year drug-free observation phase.

February 2024

Efficacy and safety of JAK inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis: update for the practising clinician

Nat Rev Rheumatol 2024;20(2):101–115 DOI: 10.1038/s41584-023-01062-9

The observed benefit:risk ratio strongly favours JAKi use in the majority of patients, and HCPs should consider and adhere to guidance on high-risk patients where applicable. Szekanecz et al summarised the safety and efficacy of approved JAKis tofacitinib, baricitinib, upadacitinib, and filgotinib to aid in clinical decision making.

Therapeutic intervention during the at-risk phase of RA with abatacept is feasible, with acceptable safety profiles. However, the efficacy of intermittent administration at multiple intervals remains to be assessed.

This pooled analysis of four Phase 3 RCTs investigated the long-term efficacy baricitinib in patients with active RA who were MTX-IR, csDMARD-IR, or bDMARD-IR. They found that baricitinib demonstrated efficacy up to 6.5 years and was well tolerated.