Drug Design, Development and Therapy (Jun 2019)
Evaluating guselkumab: an anti-IL-23 antibody for the treatment of plaque psoriasis
Abstract
Eric J Yang,1,2 Mary Patricia Smith,1,3 Karen Ly,1,4 Tina Bhutani1 1Department of Dermatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; 2Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, USA; 3Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; 4School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA Abstract: The approval of guselkumab marks the entry of the IL-23 inhibitor class into the therapeutic armamentarium for patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. This class specifically targets the upstream portion of the type 17 helper T (Th17) axis, which has been implicated as a key driver of the abnormal inflammatory state observed in psoriasis. Guselkumab is highly efficacious, with over 85% of the patients achieving ≥75% reduction in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index from baseline (PASI 75) and over 70% of the patients achieving PASI 90 response in its Phase III clinical trials. Additionally, this medication is well-tolerated, with non-serious infections such as nasopharyngitis and upper respiratory infections (URIs) being the most common adverse events (AEs) reported in its clinical trials. Guselkumab offers yet another effective treatment option in the rapidly growing list of available biological therapies for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Keywords: biologics, guselkumab, IL-23 inhibitor, plaque psoriasis, biologic selection
