Patients with chronic plaque psoriasis who were given ixekizumab improved the severity of scalp and nail lesions in a phase 2 trial, according to Dr. Richard G. Langley of Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S., and his associates.
In a 20-week randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 142 patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis at baseline were injected subcutaneously with ixekizumab at weeks 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 16. Ixekizumab, a monoclonal antibody, specifically targets IL-17A, a cytokine involved in the development of psoriasis.
Patients with scalp psoriasis were split into groups and given 10-, 25-, 75- and 150-mg doses of ixekizumab, or placebo; patients with nail psoriasis received 75- and 150-mg doses of ixekizumab. After 20 weeks, patients scalp psoriasis patients in the 25-, 75-, and 150-mg groups and nail psoriasis patients in the 75- and 150-mg groups showed significant improvement from baseline. By week 48, 78% of patients with scalp psoriasis and 51% of patients with nail psoriasis experienced complete resolution of lesions, the investigators reported.
Read the full article in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.