Efficacy of secukinumab in treating psoriasis

Researchers evaluated secukinumab in two phase III, double-blind 52-week trials, with 738 patients in the ERASURE study and 1,306 patients in the FIXTURE study.

Patients were randomly assigned to subcutaneous secukinumab at a dose of 300mg or 150mg, or placebo, or, in the FIXTURE study, 50mg etanercept.

About 80% of patients treated with 300mg secukinumab achieved PASI 75 at week 12, compared with 67-71.6% of those treated with 150mg secukinumab, and 44% of those treated with etanercept.

Secukinumab was found to clear skin more quickly than etanercept, with an average 50% reduction in affected skin and severity of psoriasis after three weeks compared with seven weeks with etanercept.

The incidence of side-effects in patients treated with secukinumab was comparable with those in patients treated with etanercept.

Langley RG, Elewski BE, Lebwohl M et al. Secukinumab in plaque psoriasis: results of two phase 3 trials. New Engl J Med 2014; 371: 326-38