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news.A study has shown that the drug infliximab, marketed by Centocor as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease, also quickly and significantly improves psoriasis symptoms.
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The study at the UK’s University of Manchester was a placebo-controlled trial on 378 patients with moderate to severe psoriasis, to test the efficacy and safety of the drug. The findings, published in The Lancet, show that 80% of patients achieved at least a 75% improvement in symptoms after ten weeks treatment with the drug, as opposed to just 3% of those receiving a placebo.
Psoriasis is a chronic condition which results when skin cells over-produce and accumulate on the surface of the skin, producing red, scaly ‘plaques’ which may itch and bleed. It is thought to be genetic in origin and is a consequence of an abnormal inflammatory response in the skin. Around 2% of the population suffers from the disease, with about 30% of cases considered moderate to severe, but until now treatment options have been limited.
Infliximab blocks the activity of ‘tumor necrosis factor alpha’ (TNF-alpha), a protein involved in inflammation, and the vast majority of the trial subjects treated with the drug achieved clinically-significant levels of skin clearance. Nearly 60% experienced at least a 90% improvement in symptoms – or near-complete skin clearance – after ten weeks, versus 1% receiving the placebo, whilst 26% achieved complete skin clearance (versus 0% receiving the placebo). The improvements continued throughout the 50-week study.
“These results indicate that Infliximab is a very effective therapy among the newer biological treatments for psoriasis,” said Professor Christopher Griffiths, the Manchester University academic leading the trial from the Dermatology Centre at Hope Hospital, Salford. “As a dermatologist, I am very encouraged by the data, which show that patients with moderate to severe psoriasis can rapidly achieve skin clearance and that these results can be maintained.”
Patients receiving Infliximab also experienced a good response in nail psoriasis, which is present in 20 – 50% of psoriasis patients and often thought of as a treatment-resistant disease. By week 24 of the trial, those receiving the drug were experiencing a 56% average decrease in this condition, and again this response was maintained throughout the trial.