Bristol Myers Squibb’s Drug Effective in Plaque Psoriasis Patients

Bristol Myers Squibb recently announced that its severe plaque psoriasis treatment,  deucravacitinib, elicited durable efficacy and a consistent safety profile in adult patients.   

The two-year results from the POETYK PSO long-term extension trial showed that patients maintained clinical efficacy with deucravacitinib. And response rates at wWeek 60 were 77.7% and 58.7% for Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 75 and static Physicians Global Assessment (sPGA), respectively.  

The overall safety profile of deucravacitinib through two years was consistent with those observed in the previous Phase 3 POETYK PSO-1 and POETYK PSO-2 trials. Adverse events were generally mild or moderate. 

Notably, there was an increased number of COVID-19 infections in the follow-up trial, but deucravacitinib did not increase the risk or severity of COVID-19 infection. Overall incidence rates of infection and COVID-19-related hospitalization and death in the trial were consistent with background epidemiological rates.  

“These long-term follow-up results add to the growing body of evidence for deucravacitinib, a first-in-class, oral, selective allosteric TYK2 inhibitor with a unique mechanism of action, reinforcing its potential to offer patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis an oral treatment option that addresses current gaps in care,” Jonathan Sadeh, MD, MSc, senior vice president of Immunology and Fibrosis Development at Bristol Myers Squibb, said in the announcement.  

According to the World Psoriasis Day consortium, about 125 million people worldwide, or 2–3% of the total population, have psoriasis. And nearly 80– 90% of people with psoriasis have plaque psoriasis. 

In June 2020, Eli Lilly and Company announced that its antibody, mirikizumab, showed promise in a Phase 3 study for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis patients.  

The study showed that mirikizumab met the primary and key secondary endpoints versus Consentyx (secukinumab) at week 16. And the safety profile was consistent with previously disclosed results for mirikizumab and known safety findings of other drugs in the IL23p19 class. 

“Plaque psoriasis is a chronic, systemic immune-mediated disease associated with multiple serious comorbidities, and there remains a strong unmet need for new treatments, particularly oral medicines, as many patients are undertreated or are dissatisfied with current options,” Richard B. Warren, consultant dermatologist at Salford Royal Hospital and professor at The University of Manchester, said in the recent announcement.