Stelara Beats Enbrel in Psoriasis Study

Jan. 13, 2010 -- A recently approved drug, Stelara, is more effective than a
more established drug, Enbrel, in treating moderate to severe psoriasis,
according to a new study.
The findings, reported this week in the New England Journal of
Medicine, may help patients whose extensive psoriasis is not
well-controlled to find an alternative treatment.  
"I think it's pretty clear that Stelara is a dramatically effective drug,
one of the most effective drugs we've ever had for psoriasis," Mark Lebwohl,
MD, chairman of the dermatology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine,
tells WebMD. Lebwohl's department was one of 67 sites worldwide to participate
in the study. 
Both Stelara and Enbrel are biologics -- treatments made up of genetically
engineered proteins -- and used to treat patients who have moderate to severe
psoriasis that has not responded to traditional systemic therapies such as
methotrexate.
But the two drugs have completely different mechanisms of action. While
Enbrel blocks tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), Stelara targets two
inflammatory chemicals, interleukin 12 and interleukin 23, which are involved
in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.
Study researcher Christopher Griffiths, MD, a professor of dermatology at
England's University of Manchester Medical School, says if patients taking
Enbrel have well-controlled psoriasis, they need not switch to Stelara.
The study's conclusion "just gives those individuals the reassurance that if
for some reason the Enbrel stops working, or wasn't working as effectively as
it was at the beginning, that there's a proven, logical alternative therapy
that they could switch to."
In the study, 903 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis got
either Stelara (high or low dose) or high-dose Enbrel.




What Does Moderate to Severe Psoriasis Look Like?
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