Efficacy and safety of deucravacitinib in the treatment of plaque psoriasis

A recent study demonstrated the superiority of deucravacitinib, a highly selective tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor, over placebo and the active comparator apremilast, in the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The authors of this study1 point out that current treatments for plaque psoriasis, including biologics and oral small molecule agents, are generally effective. However, physicians often have to choose between efficacy, safety and convenience of treatment for the patient2,3; hence the usefulness of developing new targeted oral therapies that are more effective, well tolerated and easy to administer. In phase 2 trials in plaque psoriasis4 and psoriatic arthritis,5 deucravaticinib was significantly more effective than placebo and was well tolerated. Highly selective for tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) over closely related Janus kinases (JAKs), deucravacitinib inhibits TYK2-mediated IL-23 and type 1 interferon signaling and their downstream functional responses.6 Read: Case report: Cure for foot fungus? Methodology in brief POS-2 was a 52-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, active-comparator-controlled Phase 3 trial conducted at 191 sites in 16 countries. Adults aged 18 and over with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, for at least six months prior to screening, were enrolled in the study. Co-primary endpoints were PASI 75 (75% reduction from baseline in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index) and sPGA score (Static Physician's Global Assessment score of 0, clear, or 1, almost clear) with ≥2 point improvement from baseline (sPGA 0/1) for deucravacitinib compared to placebo at Week 16. Principle results Between June 2018 and November 2019, a total of 1020 patients were randomized 2:1:1 to oral deucravacitinib 6 mg daily (n=511), placebo (n=255), or apremilast 30 mg bid ( n = 254). Baseline demographics and disease characteristics were similar in all groups. Of all the patients, 885 (86.8%) completed 16 weeks of treatment. Read: Evidence-based suggestions to promote antibiotic stewardship in dermatology Significantly more patients receiving deucravacitinib compared to placebo and apremilast achieved the co-primary PASI 75 endpoints (53% vs 9.4%; p

Efficacy and safety of deucravacitinib in the treatment of plaque psoriasis

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