Section : Notes de congrès/conférences

Psoriasis: An Effective Oral Treatment

Introduction

  • The drug is called apremilast under the brand name Otezla
  • It is indicated in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis
  • Studied since 2004 in clinical trials in over 3500 patients

Is it effective ?

  • In a randomized-control trial 1257 with moderate-to-severe psoriasis and evaluated after 16 weeks (after a week of progressively increasing dosage)
  • The most reliable way of measuring psoriasis is the PASI score, which takes into account the redness (erythema), scaling (desquamation), thickness as well as the extent.
  • PASI 75 (a 75% improvement of the initial PASI score) was observed in one third of patients created with apremilast (it was compared with a 5% rate in the non-treated group). Itch was markedly improved already significantly from the second week.
  • On another positive note, promising results were observed in psoriasis localized on the nails ans scalp.

Is it safe ?

  • the most frequent reported adverse event is diarrhea and nausea in around 15% of cases at the beginning of the treatment which is transient.
  • depression was observed in 12 treated patients (1.3%) (vs 0.4% in the placebo group)
  • suicidal behavior was similar in both groups (1)

It can cause weight loss

  • A 5-10% reduction in weight was observed in 12% (96) (vs 5% (19) in the placebo group)
  • A higher than 10% reduction in weight loss was observed in 2% (16) (vs 1% (3) in the placebo group)

Preacautions

  • The medication has not been studied in pregnant women
  • In case of severe renal failure (clearance  less than 30ml/min), dosage should be reduced to 1 tab (30mg) a day
  • Otezla can interact with rifampicin, which might cause a reduction of its effectiveness. Therefore use of other inducers such as carbamazepine, phenytoin and phenobarbital is not recommended.

Contributors:

Dr Christophe HSU – dermatologist. Geneva, Switzerland

Source of information: published as prescribed drug informtion. JAAD January 2015