Phase 3 studies comparing brodalumab with ustekinumab in psoriasis

N Engl J Med 2015;373:1318–28. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1503824

Brodalumab treatment resulted in a rapid reduction in the signs and symptoms of PsO. The median time to a PASI 75 response with 210 mg of brodalumab Q2W was 4 weeks, approximately twice as fast as the median time to a response with ustekinumab.

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.

July 2015

The management of moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis has benefited from the introduction of biological therapies, but unmet needs still remain, especially for oral therapies. Tofacitinib is an orally active agent that blocks signalling of key cytokines implicated in the immune response and inflammatory pathways of psoriasis. The Phase III studies presented in this paper analysed efficacy and safety endpoints.Both studies demonstrated that tofacitinib in both 5 mg and 10 mg twice daily d...