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news.Centocor, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, has published phase II data showing that patients administered with its injection drug for plaque psoriasis experienced significant improvements but some also suffered serious adverse effects.
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At week 12 of the study, patients receiving CNTO 1275 achieved at least 75% improvement in their psoriasis, as measured by the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI 75), compared with two percent of patients receiving placebo.
In addition, significantly more patients in each of the three additional CNTO 1275 dosing groups achieved at least a PASI 75 improvement in their psoriasis versus patients receiving placebo.
However the drug also induced serious side effects and 4% of patients were hospitalized in the trial compared with 1% of those receiving placebos. Furthermore a greater proportion of patients taking CNTO 1275 developed higher blood sugar levels.
CNTO 1275 is a fully human monoclonal antibody that targets the cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin-23 (IL-23).
Preclinical studies suggest that blocking IL-12 and IL-23 may therapeutically benefit psoriasis patients, and CNTO 1275 has been shown to effectively block IL-12 and IL-23 interactions with the surface of immune cells.