Cosentyx may modify course of psoriasis

Cosentyx may modify the course of moderate-to-severe psoriasis, which could lead to long-term, treatment-free skin clearance, according to data presented at Maui Derm for Dermatologists in Maui, Hawaii.

Cosentyx (secukinumab, Novartis) is the first interleukin-17A (IL-17A) inhibitor to report the potential disease modification, according to a press release from Novartis.

Researchers presented data from A2302E1, a double blind, placebo-controlled study of 120 patients with psoriasis and an extension of phase 3 studies, ERASURE and FIXTURE. After one year of secukinumab treatment, researchers assigned patients who achieved a Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 75 response to either secukinumab 300 mg or placebo. During the treatment withdrawal, concomitant psoriasis medication was prohibited; upon relapse placebo patients were retreated with secukinumab.

The long-term data from A2302E1 show low PASI scores were maintained after treatment discontinuation following 1 year on secukinumab compared with baseline, according to the release.

Patients with continuous treatment maintained a high level of response. Among the patients who discontinued treatment, 21% maintained skin clearance for up to one year without treatment and 10% maintained skin clearance for up to two years without treatment, according to the release.

Patients with longer disease duration were more likely to relapse, suggesting that early intervention increases the chance of remaining relapse free, according to the release.

“These results suggest that Cosentyx may go beyond simply treating symptoms and could actually modify the course of psoriasis, and highlights the need for further investigation into early intervention,” Vas Narasimhan, global head, drug development and chief medical officer, Novartis, stated in the release. “Being able to change the course of disease is the ultimate goal of treatment.”

To further investigate the disease modification potential of secukinuamb Novartis reported it has initiated the STEPIn trial to assess early intervention in new-onset disease.

Reference: www.novartis.com