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.

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.

July 2023

This study confirms the safety of long-term apremilast use in patients with plaque PsO, active PsA, or oral ulcers associated with Behçet’s syndrome. In coming to this conclusion, investigators conducted a pooled analysis of apremilast data from 15 clinical studies with open-label extension phases, focusing on long-term safety.

November 2022

In this investigation it was concluded that other biologics and apremilast were associated with a 1.4- to 3-times higher risk of hospitalisation for serious infections in PsO/PsA patients when compared to ustekinumab. These findings should be considered in the safety profile of these therapies when selecting appropriate treatment regimens in patients with PsO/PsA.

July 2022

Baseline disease activity, as measured by cDAPSA, predicts the achievement of treatment targets in DMARD-naïve patients post- apremilast treatment. To come to this conclusion Mease, et al.  analysed data from the PALACE 4 clinical trial which investigated apremilast in DMARD-naïve patients. 175 patients receiving 30mg apremilast from baseline with cDAPSA data available, were analysed.

May 2022

Pina Vegas and her colleagues sought to assess the relative risk of MACEs in patients with PsA initiating bDMARDs or apremilast. They found that overall, the data produced overall a positive picture regarding the incidence of MACE in treatment.