Novartis has announced a new analysis showing that moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients treated with Cosentyx (secukinumab) rapidly regain clear or almost clear skin (Psoriasis Area Severity Index, PASI 90 to 100) following relapse during a treatment pause. The analysis also showed no anti-secukinumab antibodies were observed during retreatment. These findings were presented at the 2017 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, at which Novartis presented over 35 scientific abstracts.

Previous data has shown favorable results for continuous over intermittent treatment, however sometimes patients have treatment pauses. This new analysis shows that if psoriasis patients relapse during treatment pauses, the majority can achieve previous high levels of efficacy after only 16 weeks of retreatment with Cosentyx. Immunogenicity is a frequent issue with many biologic psoriasis treatments that lose long-term efficacy over time. Cosentyx has previously demonstrated almost zero immunogenicity. Cosentyx is a fully human, targeted treatment that specifically inhibits the IL-17A cytokine and previous data has shown that it delivers high and long-lasting clear or almost clear skin in up to 80 per cent of patients.

"It is very clear that patients get the best results from continuous treatment," said Vas Narasimhan, global head, drug development and chief medical officer, Novartis. "However, if for some reason treatment has been interrupted, this analysis gives patients and clinicians the peace of mind that Cosentyx is likely to help people quickly achieve clear skin once again."

For patients who achieved PASI 75 responses after one year of treatment with Cosentyx (300mg), and then relapsed after treatment discontinuation (n=136), the analysis shows that, by Week 16 of retreatment with Cosentyx, 94 per cent of patients regained a PASI 75 score, 79 per cent of prior PASI 90 responders (n=117) regained a PASI 90 score and 67 per cent of prior PASI 100 response (n=67) regained a PASI 100 score. In addition, the safety profile was favorable and consistent with that demonstrated in previous studies. Furthermore, no patients in this analysis were found to have developed anti-secukinumab antibodies.

Cosentyx is the only IL-17A inhibitor approved in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis with more than 80,000 patients treated in the post-marketing setting worldwide across all indications.

Launched in January 2015, Cosentyx is a targeted treatment that specifically inhibits the IL-17A cytokine. Cosentyx delivers long-lasting clear or almost clear skin in the majority of patients, with proven sustainability, safety out to four years and convenient once-monthly dosing in a patient-friendly auto injector.

Cosentyx is approved in more than 75 countries for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, which includes the European Union countries, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, the US and Canada. In Europe, Cosentyx is approved for the first-line systemic treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients. In the US, Cosentyx is approved as a treatment for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy (light therapy).

In addition, Cosentyx is the first IL-17A inhibitor approved in more than 65 countries for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), which includes the European Union countries and the US. Cosentyx is also approved for the treatment of PsA and pustular psoriasis in Japan.