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Spotlight on Etanercept in Plaque Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis

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Abstract

Etanercept (Enbrel®), a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α antagonist produced by recombinant technology, is approved for use in the US as subcutaneous monotherapy in adults with moderate-to-severe psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. The drug is also indicated in patients with psoriatic arthritis, in whom it may be used in combination with methotrexate.

In well designed trials in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, short-term etanercept therapy (typically 25 or 50mg twice weekly) significantly increased the proportion of patients achieving a 75% reduction in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score compared with placebo. Similarly, in well designed trials in patients with psoriatic arthritis, treatment with short-term etanercept 25mg twice weekly, alone or in combination with methotrexate, improved clinical features of the disease, while radiographic progression of joint damage appeared to be significantly slowed in a nonblind 1-year extension. Short-term etanercept therapy was well tolerated in patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis. Etanercept is thus a valuable new option for the treatment of patients with chronic moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis (who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy or have failed other systemic therapies) or with psoriatic arthritis.

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Acknowledgments

The full text article in American Journal of Clinical Dermatology 2005; 6 (2): 121–36 was reviewed by: J. Callen, Department of Dermatology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky, USA; S.R. Feldman, Departments of Dermatology, Pathology and Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; M.G. Lebwohl, Department of Dermatology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; E.E. Lee, Department of Dermatology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; N. Levine, Section of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA; E.J. Lowenstein, Department of Dermatology, State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, New York, New York, USA; D.J. Margolis, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; W.D. Tutrone, Department of Dermatology, St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, New York, USA.

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  1. Adis International Inc., 770 Township Line Road, Suite 300, Yardley, PA, 19067, USA

    David R. Goldsmith & Antona J. Wagstaff

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  1. David R. Goldsmith
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  2. Antona J. Wagstaff
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Correspondence to David R. Goldsmith.

Additional information

This Spotlight is derived from abstract and summary text of an Adis Drug Evaluation originally published in full in American Journal of Clinical Dermatology 2005; 6 (2): 121–36. Reviewers of the original full text article are listed in the Acknowledgments section

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Goldsmith, D.R., Wagstaff, A.J. Spotlight on Etanercept in Plaque Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis. BioDrugs 19, 401–403 (2005). https://doi.org/10.2165/00063030-200519060-00007

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