Pharmacodynamic analysis of apremilast in Japanese patients with moderate to severe psoriasis: Results from a phase 2b randomized trial

Clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oral systemic nonbiologic therapies for psoriasis patients

INTRODUCTION

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory immune condition. Treatments for psoriasis vary with disease severity, ranging from topicals to systemic biologic agents. The pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) properties of these therapies establish drug efficacy, toxicity, and optimal dosing to ensure therapeutic drug levels are sustained and adverse effects are minimized.

AREAS COVERED

A literature search was performed on PubMed, Google Scholar, and Ovid MEDLINE for PK and PD, efficacy, and safety data regarding oral systemic nonbiologic therapies utilized for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The findings were organized into sections for each drug: oral acitretin, methotrexate, cyclosporine, apremilast, tofacitinib, and deucravacitinib.

EXPERT OPINION

Some psoriasis patients may not respond to initial therapy. Ongoing research is evaluating genetic polymorphisms that may predict an improved response to specific medications. However, financial and insurance barriers, as well as limited genetic polymorphisms correlated with treatment response, may restrict the implementation of genetic testing necessary to personalize treatments. How well psoriasis patients adhere to treatment may contribute greatly to variation in response. Therapeutic drug monitoring may help patients adhere to treatment, improve clinical response, and sustain disease control.

Trends in prescriptions of oral medications for psoriasis: A single-center retrospective study

The systemic treatment of psoriasis has changed markedly with the introduction of many novel drugs. However, clinicians have had limited opportunities to evaluate these new therapies. One of the new drugs, apremilast (a phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor), was approved in 2017 in Japan. We previously reported oral treatment for psoriasis before the introduction of apremilast. In this study, we investigated the impact of apremilast on oral medication for psoriasis by comparing data obtained before and after apremilast became available. This retrospective study enrolled patients who visited the Department of Dermatology, Fukuoka University Hospital, who were diagnosed with psoriasis and treated with anti-psoriatic oral medications. Patients were divided into two groups: Group 1, who first visited our clinic between January 2010 and March 2016; and Group 2, who first visited our clinic between April 2016 and March 2022. The information collected included patient demographics, drug use (apremilast, cyclosporine, methotrexate, and etretinate), and treatment duration. In Group 1 (n = 149 patients), cyclosporine, methotrexate, and etretinate were prescribed to 59.1%, 16.6%, and 24.3% of the patients, respectively. In Group 2 (n = 129 patients), apremilast was prescribed to 52.5% of patients, while the number of prescriptions for cyclosporine and etretinate had decreased to 17.1% and 8.3%, respectively. The number of methotrexate prescriptions did not change significantly. Apremilast, methotrexate, and etretinate had longer continuation rates than cyclosporine in Group 2. In conclusion, apremilast replaced cyclosporine and etretinate mainly because of its better safety profile, whereas methotrexate remained in constant demand in both eras. New oral treatments for psoriasis, such as tyrosine kinase-2 inhibitors, are now in the pipeline, and our data will serve as a control for oral anti-psoriatic medicine before the coming era.