Strober B, Sigurgeirsson B, Popp G, Sinclair R, Krell J, Stonkus S, Septe M, Elewski BE, Gottlieb AB, Zhao Y, Herrera V, Mordin M, Odom D, Papavassilis C, Nyirady J, Lebwohl M. Secukinumab provides clearer skin and better control on patient-reported psoriasis symptoms of itching, pain, and scaling than placebo and etanercept. J Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis. 2016;1(4):167-75.

BACKGROUND: Secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin 17A monoclonal antibody, has demonstrated rapid, strong, and sustained efficacy in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

OBJECTIVE: To measure treatment effect on psoriasis-related itching, pain, and scaling during the first 12 weeks of treatment.

METHODS: ERASURE and FIXTURE were double-blind, multicenter, phase 3 studies in adults randomly assigned to secukinumab (300 mg or 150 mg), placebo, or etanercept (FIXTURE only). Improvements in itching, pain, and scaling and their bothersomeness, proportions of responders and proportions reporting complete symptom relief were compared.

RESULTS: Subjects treated with secukinumab reported significantly greater symptom improvement versus etanercept and placebo as well as bothersomeness reduction (all P < 0.01). The proportion of symptom responders and proportions reporting complete relief favored secukinumab.

LIMITATIONS: Approximately 39% of patients provided data on psoriasis-related itching, pain, and scaling.

CONCLUSIONS: Secukinumab significantly improves patient-reported itching, pain, and scaling compared with etanercept and placebo over 12-week psoriasis treatment.