This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Cosentyx efficacious at 12 weeks for clearing scalp psoriasis
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Cosentyx was superior to placebo at 12 weeks for clearing moderate-to-severe scalp psoriasis, according to research presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress in Vienna.
Mark Lebwohl, MD, of Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, and colleagues conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 102 patients with moderate-to-severe scalp psoriasis. Patients were randomly assigned to subcutaneous injection of Cosentyx (secukinumab, Novartis) 300 mg or placebo at baseline, weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4, then every 4 weeks through 12 weeks.
Patients treated with placebo who did not achieve Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index (PSSI) 90 response rate at week 12 were switched to secukinumab 300 mg until the completion of the study.
The secukinumab treatment group (n = 51) had a mean baseline PSSI score of 34.1 while the placebo group (n = 51) had a mean baseline score of 33.9.
More than half (52.9%) of the patients in the secukinumab cohort and 2% of patients in the placebo cohort achieved PSSI 90 responses at week 12 (P < .001). A significantly greater percentage of patients in the secukinumab cohort achieved Investors Global Assessment modified 2011 scalp score responses of 0 or 1 at week 12 compared with placebo (51% difference; 95% CI, 36-66).
In the secukinumab cohort, 52.9% of patients reported adverse events, as did 49% of patients in the placebo cohort. No serious AEs were reported with secukinumab treatment.
“No new or unexpected safety signals were observed with secukinumab, the favorable safety profile was consistent with pivotal phase 3 trials,” the researchers concluded. – by Bruce Thiel
Reference: www.novartis.com. Secukinumab is efficacious in clearing moderate-to-severe scalp psoriasis: 12 week result of a randomized phase IIIb study. Presented at: European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress. Sept. 28-Oct. 2; Vienna.
Disclosure: The research was sponsored by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Healio.com/Dermatology was unable to determine the researchers’’ relevant financial disclosures at time of publication.