Ustekinumab helps patients achieve PASI-75

USA-based Centocor, a subsidiary of global health care major Johnson & Johnson, says that new data demonstrate the clinical benefits conferred by its developmental psoriasis treatment ustekinumab (CNTO 1275). The firm said that, in clinical trials, the lowest dosage of the drug tested allowed 67% of treated patients to achieve 75% improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index scores (PASI-75) after 12 weeks.

Ustekinumab is a fully-human monoclonal antibody that targets interleukins 12 and 23, naturally-occurring proteins that are believed to play a role in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

The findings, which were presented at the 21st annual meeting of the World Congress of Dermatology in Buenos Aires, Argentina, are from the Phase III PHOENIX-2 trial, which recruited more than 1,200 psoriasis sufferers. Participants were randomized to receive one of two (45mg or 90mg) subcutaneously administered doses of ustekinumab, or placebo, every four weeks over a three-month period. After four weeks, subjects in the placebo group were crossed over to receive the drug for the remainder of the study.