Despite mostly targeting established molecules, the psoriasis pipeline is showing a high level of innovation in first-in-class molecules, including novel angiogenic drugs, growth factors, chaperone proteins and cytokines, says a new report from business intelligence provider GBI Research.

The company’s latest report states that first-in-class programmes constitute an estimated 27 per cent of the entire psoriasis pipeline, and are predominantly composed of targeted therapies, including cytokine and receptor modulators, nuclear receptor modulators and intracellular kinase inhibitors.

Ling Zhuang, Analyst for GBI Research, says: “There are several novel therapies targeting first-in-class T cell antigens, thanks to a growing understanding of the signaling pathways underlying the psoriasis pathophysiology, in which T cells have been shown to play a substantial role in disease progression.”

Therapies that can selectively modulate specific subsets of immune cells, without compromising the entire immune system, have become increasingly desirable, according to GBI Research. One such program is Tregalizumab, a humanised Cluster of Differentiation (CD) 4-specific monoclonal antibody.

Zhuang continues: “In contrast to other anti-CD4 antibodies, Tregalizumab is able to activate the suppressive properties of regulatory T cells. It is currently in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and in Preclinical development for treating psoriasis.”

GBI Research states that although no preclinical or clinical efficacy data has been disclosed for the antibody, it has been involved in a lucrative co-development deal worth $480 million between Biotest and Abbott Laboratories.

Other promising psoriasis therapies are targeting novel angiogenic signaling molecules at the psoriatic plaque level, as topical therapies. This has been validated in a small scale, double-blind and randomised clinical study, according to GBI Research.

“With further validation in larger scale clinical studies, insulin receptor substrate-1 inhibitors may prove to be a novel localised therapy for psoriasis, which can be used in conjunction with systemic treatments,” Zhuang concludes.