Skip to main content
Log in

Treat psoriasis with traditional and novel topical therapies

  • Practical Issues and Updates
  • Published:
Drugs & Therapy Perspectives Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The mainstay topical treatments for psoriasis are corticosteroids and/or vitamin D analogues, with retinoids, calcineurin inhibitors, salicylic acid and other agents used for decades. These agents target abnormal cytokine activity and keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation. New research areas include intracellular signalling pathways, with tapinarof being the first aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) modulator to gain approval. Other promising topical agents include additional AhR modulators, phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitors and janus kinase pathway inhibitors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lé AM, Torres T. New topical therapies for psoriasis. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2022;23(1):13–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Elmets CA, Korman NJ, Prater EF, et al. Joint AAD-NPF guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with topical therapy and alternative medicine modalities for psoriasis severity measures. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2021;84(2):432–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bissonnette R, Stein Gold L, Rubenstein DS, et al. Tapinarof in the treatment of psoriasis: a review of the unique mechanism of action of a novel therapeutic aryl hydrocarbon receptor-modulating agent. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2021;84(4):1059–67.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Dermavent Sciences. FDA approves Dermavant’s VTAMA® (tapinarof) cream, 1% for the treatment of plaque psoriasis in adults: first topical novel chemical entity launched for psoriasis in the U.S. in 25 years [media release]. 24 May 2022. https://www.dermavant.com.

  5. Hosking AM, Juhasz M, Mesinkovska NA. Topical Janus kinase inhibitors: a review of applications in dermatology. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2018;79(3):535–44.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Bissonnette R, Bolduc C, Maari C, et al. Efficacy and safety of topical WBI-1001 in patients with mild to moderate psoriasis: results from a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled, phase II trial. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2012;26(12):1516–21.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Rudnicka L, Olszewska M, Mohamad Goldust M, et al. Efficacy and safety of different formulations of calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate in psoriasis: gel, foam, and ointment. J Clin Med. 2021;10(23):5589.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Mason AR, Mason J, Cork M, et al. Topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013(3):CD005028.

  9. Ingenus Pharmaceuticals LLC. Betamethasone aerosol, foam: US prescribing information. 2021. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 31 May 2022.

  10. Padagis Israel Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Fluocinolone acetonide topical oil, 0.01% (Scalp Oil): US prescribing information. 2021. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 31 May 2022.

  11. Sandoz Ltd. Calcipotriene and betamethasone dipropionate ointment: US prescribing information. 2019. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 31 May 2022.

  12. Allergan Inc. Tazorac - tazarotene cream. 2017. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 31 May 2022.

  13. Stein Gold L, Bhatia N, Tallman AM, et al. A phase 2b, randomized clinical trial of tapinarof cream for the treatment of plaque psoriasis: secondary efficacy and patient-reported outcomes. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2021;84(3):624–31.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Dermavent Sciences. Dermavant showcases new long-term data from phase 3 PSOARING 3 trial of tapinarof in patients with plaque psoriasis at the 30th EADV Virtual Congress [media release]. 30 Sept 2021. https://www.dermavant.com.

  15. Cai L, Chen G, Lu Q, et al. A double-blind, randomized, placebo- and positive-controlled phase III trial of 1% benvitimod cream in mild-to-moderate plaque psoriasis. Chin Med J (Engl). 2020;133(24):2905–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lebwohl M, Kircik LH, Moore A, et al. Once-daily roflumilast cream 0.3%, a potent phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, provided safe and effective treatment of psoriasis in the DERMIS-1 and DERMIS-2 phase 3 trials [poster]. SKIN J Cutan Med. 2010;5(6):s42.

  17. Gooderham MJ, Alonso-Llamazares J, Bagel J, et al. Roflumilast cream 0.3% improved the severity and impact of itch in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis in the phase 3 DERMIS-1 and DERMIS-2 studies [poster]. SKIN J Cutan Med. 2021;5(6):s41.

  18. Hashim PW, Chima M, Kim HJ, et al. Crisaborole 2% ointment for the treatment of intertriginous, anogenital, and facial psoriasis: a double-blind, randomized, vehicle-controlled trial. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020;82(2):360–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Punwani N, Burn T, Scherle P, et al. Downmodulation of key inflammatory cell markers with a topical Janus kinase 1/2 inhibitor. Br J Dermatol. 2015;173(4):989–97.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Pfizer Inc. Immunology & inflammation: autoimmune pipeline & trials. 2022. https://www.pfizer.com. Accessed 31 May 2022.

  21. Kang EG, Wu S, Gupta A, et al. A phase I randomized controlled trial to evaluate safety and clinical effect of topically applied GSK2981278 ointment in a psoriasis plaque test. Br J Dermatol. 2018;178(6):1327–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Thorley J. FDA expands JAK inhibitors warning: going beyond the data? Lancet Rheumatol. 2021;3(11): e757.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Connie Kang.

Ethics declarations

Funding

The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.

Authorship and conflict of interest

C. Fenton, a contracted employee of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature, and C. Kang, a salaried employee of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature, declare no relevant conflicts of interest. All authors contributed to the review and are responsible for the article content.

Ethics approval, Consent to participate, Consent for publication, Availability of data and material, Code availability

Not applicable.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fenton, C., Kang, C. Treat psoriasis with traditional and novel topical therapies. Drugs Ther Perspect 38, 400–405 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40267-022-00936-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40267-022-00936-4

Navigation