Secukinumab: a review of the anti-IL-17A biologic for the treatment of psoriasis

Psoriasis is a systemic inflammatory disease associated with numerous comorbidities and a profound impact on patients’ quality of life. While its complex immune pathogenesis is still not fully delineated, current evidence supports a fundamental role of the T-helper-17 (TH-17) pathway and its related interleukin-17 (IL-17) cytokine. Thus, new antipsoriatic therapies have been developed to block this key cytokine and its downstream effects. Secukinumab is a fully humanized, monoclonal anti-IL-17A antibody, and the first in its class to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. It has also been approved for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Its clinical efficacy in plaque psoriasis has been well demonstrated in numerous phase II and III clinical trials. In addition, it has shown superiority in clinical trials to current biologic agents including etanercept and ustekinumab, with a safe adverse event profile. In correlation with excellent skin improvements, secukinumab is also associated with significant improvements in health-related quality of life measures. Thus, secukinumab offers the potential for equal, or improved, therapeutic effects compared with other biologics, and is a valuable addition to our current antipsoriatic armamentarium