New data suggest Novartis drug can potentially modify the course of psoriasis

New data suggest, for the first time, that secukinumab may modify the course of moderate- tosevere psoriasis leading to long- term, treatment- free skin clearance. Secukinumab is the first and only IL17A inhibitor to have reported this potential of disease modification. Novartis presented the new data at the 13th Annual Maui Derm for Dermatologists 2017 held in Hawaii on March 20- 24, 2017.

Psoriasis is a chronic, noncommunicable, painful, disfiguring and disabling disease that manifests on the skin and joints, significantly affecting patients’ quality of life. Developed by Novartis and launched in the Philippines in April 2016, secukinumab is a first- inclass drug that selectively targets and inhibits IL- 17A, a protein that is an important mediator in the progression of psoriasis.

Following one year of treatment with secukinumab, patients were randomized to either continuous treatment or treatment cessation until relapse. Patients with continuous treatment maintained their high level of response. Among the patients that discontinued treatment, 21% of psoriasis patients maintained skin clearance for up to one year without treatment and 10% maintained skin clearance for up to two years without treatment. Patients with longer disease duration were more likely to relapse, suggesting that early intervention increases the chance of remaining relapse free.

Previous data have shown that secukinumab delivers long- lasting clear or almost clear skin in up to 80% of patients for up to four years.

“These results from an extension study of our phase 3 clinical trials suggest that secukinumab may go beyond simply treating symptoms and could actually modify the course of psoriasis, and highlights the need for further investigation into early intervention,” said Vas Narasimhan, Global Head, Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer, Novartis. “Being able to change the course of disease is the ultimate goal of treatment, which is why we are investing in the STEPIn trial to further understand the disease modifying ability of secukinumab in psoriasis.”

Secukinumab is the only IL- 17A inhibitor approved in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis ( PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis ( AS). About 80,000 patients have been treated with secukinumab worldwide in the post- marketing setting.