‘Coming to the clinic soon’: Top AAD takeaways from Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE

ORLANDO — The American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting was packed with “massive advancements” across the field, Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, chief medical editor of Healio Dermatology, said.

In this video, Gelfand draws attention to three presentations that he said particularly stood out.

Icotrokinra

The first is on icotrokinra (JNJ-2113; Protagonist Therapeutics, Johnson & Johnson), a first-in-class targeted oral peptide that inhibits the interleukin-23 receptor in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

The treatment — which Gelfand said is “coming to the clinic soon” — is a once-daily pill that should be taken on an empty stomach. Late-breaking data presented at AAD showed that 40% of patients who received icotrokinra achieved PASI 100 at week 20.

“That is akin to some of our best biologics for psoriasis, and the safety data were remarkable,” Gelfand said. “Really, no difference between placebo and the treatment group for things like infection, for example.”

TYK2 inhibitor for psoriasis

The second presentation is on an oral tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor for plaque psoriasis from InventisBio, which “really raised people’s eyebrows,” Gelfand said.

In a phase 2 trial, 50% of patients achieved PASI 100 — “much better efficacy than the currently available TYK2 on the market,” according to Gelfand.

“If this holds up to be true, especially in western populations, it would really be exciting, because that would be the first small molecule that’s targeting something other than IL-23,” he said.

TYK2 for cutaneous lupus erythematosus

“Sticking with the TYK2 theme,” Gelfand highlighted results of a phase 2 clinical trial that showed deucravacitinib (Bristol Myers Squibb) appeared promising in patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

“It’d really be amazing if we have our first drug approved for cutaneous lupus ... a drug that we use regularly in clinical psoriasis now,” he said.

References:

• Bissonnette, et al. Icotrokinra, a targeted oral peptide that selectively blocks the interleukin-23 receptor, for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: Results through week 24 of the phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled ICONIC-LEAD trial. Presented at: American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting; March 7-11, 2024; Orlando.
• Werth V, et al. Efficacy and safety of oral deucravacitinib in patients with cutaneous manifestations of lupus erythematosus: Results from PAISLEY CLE, a global, phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Presented at: American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting; March 7-11, 2024; Orlando.
• Zhang L, et al. Efficacy and safety of a novel TYK2 inhibitor D-2570 in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial. Presented at: American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting; March 7-11, 2024; Orlando.