Relief at last for psoriasis sufferers thanks to new drug
THERE may soon be relief for psoriasis patients across the country thanks to a new €14,000a-year treatment, the first to offer a true alternative to ‘sledgehammer’ options such as chemotherapy or organ transplant antirejection drugs.
The medication, licensed earlier this year, is the first to target the key cause of the disfiguring, painful skin condition, which aff ects 100,000 people in Ireland.
One high- profile sufferer is model and actress Cara Delevingne, who blames her workload for causing it.
Leading specialist Professor Chris Griffiths says the new treatment, Cosentyx, could be the most significant development in the past decade.
‘ We are seeing patients with no disease for a year or more. This is not a cure, but if you can keep people symptom-free for long periods it’s a huge advance.’
David Powell has suffered no symptoms since starting on the drug in trials in 2012. Within a month he saw ‘a real difference’. After three months the 30- year- old helicopter engineer was clear of the red, inflamed and scaly patches that had covered his scalp, upper arms and torso.
He said: ‘It’s a miracle — it’s like I’ve been cured.’
In studies published last summer, the drug outperformed other drugs approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in Britain. It is currently subject to additional monitoring in Ireland.
Psoriasis is triggered by an immune system fault, causing overproduction of skin cells. It runs in families; one sufferer in three has a close relative with the condition.
TRIALS found eight out of ten patients saw a 75 per cent improvement after using Cosentyx for 12 weeks. Seven out of ten saw a 90 per cent improvement by week 16. Four out of ten found their symptoms disappeared completely. About 20 per cent of psoriasis patients have a moderate to severe form of the disease.
The once-a-month injection, self-administered at home by the patient, is in a class of drugs called human monoclonal antibodies.
These are aimed at the parts of the immune system known t o make proteins called interleukins, thought to be f aulty i n the amounts of serum they release.
Cosentyx i s thought to out-gun its rival monoclonal antibodies by directly targeting the interleukin IL-17A.
Prof Griffiths said: ‘ In the past we’ve had to use quite broad spectrum drugs such as methotrexate [ used to treat cancer] or cyclosporin [used for rejection in organ transplants].’ Specialists are reluctant to prescribe such powerful medicines for all but the most severe cases, calling this ‘a sledgehammer to crack a nut’.
Prof Griffiths added: ‘ They have worked for some patients but eventually they fail or we have to stop treatment due to toxicity.’
Dr Mark Tomlinson, a skin specialist f or Cosentyx’s maker, Novartis, said: ‘ In those without psoriasis, the immune system is like an orchestra — each section perfectly balanced and working harmoniously together.
‘When a person has psoriasis, it can be compared to one violinist in the orchestra playing out of t une. It dominates the sound and rhythm. This is IL-17A, the maverick violinist.’
Prof Griffiths said: ‘Psoriasis takes such an emotional toll — these results will change a lot of lives. One of my patients is swimming for the first time in 30 years as she has the confidence to wear a swim suit.’
For Mr Powell, three years after starting the trial, his skin is disease-free. He says: ‘ My wife has noticed how I’m more relaxed now. I never thought it would be possible.’