Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has shared positive new three-year results from a long-term extension (LTE) study evaluating Sotyktu (deucravacitinib) in adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.
It is estimated that up to 100 million people worldwide are affected by some form of psoriasis, an immune-mediated disease that typically affects the skin, nails and joints.
Up to 90% of patients with psoriasis have plaque psoriasis, characterised by distinct round or oval plaques typically covered by silvery-white scales.
Despite the availability of effective systemic therapies, BMS reports that many patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis remain under-treated, untreated or dissatisfied with current treatment options.
Sotyktu is a once-daily pill that selectively targets and blocks the action of an enzyme inside cells called TYK2. This enzyme plays a role in triggering the production of substances known as cytokines, which are involved in the inflammation and other processes that cause psoriasis.
The drug is already approved in major markets to treat certain patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis after being shown in late-stage trials to improve skin clearance, symptom burden and quality of life.
New data from the POETYK PSO LTE study, presented at this year’s European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress, shows that clinical response was maintained at 73.2% for Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 75 with 148 weeks of continuous Sotyktu treatment.
Sotyktu also demonstrated a consistent safety profile, with no increases in the rates of adverse events or serious adverse events over time, and no emergence of any new safety signals.
“These new, positive, three-year results reinforce the long-term efficacy and well-established safety profile of once-daily Sotyktu, the first and only TYK2 inhibitor available, and add to our confidence in its role as an oral treatment of choice for adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis,” said April Armstrong, clinical investigator in the POETYK PSO clinical trial programme and professor and chief of dermatology at the University of California.
She continued: “For my patients, more days of relief from this chronic disease mean that they can focus on other aspects of their lives, and this POETYK PSO long-term data adds to the evidence that we have the ability to offer a new standard-of-care to patients seeking an oral treatment option.”