New psoriatic arthritis drug – netakimab – performs well in trials

A biologic drug (netakimab) approved in some countries to treat plaque psoriasis shows promise when it comes to psoriatic arthritis too, experts report at an international conference.

A recent clinical trial involving 194 people with psoriatic arthritis looked at the effects of netakimab on signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis, including disease activity, skin manifestation and quality of life.

Compared to placebo, netakimab reduced disease activity, skin manifestations and helped more people reach remission. In fact, psoriatic arthritis response criteria was achieved by 87% of people treated with netakimab.

The drug also leads to sustained improvement in axial disease in people with inflammatory back pain at baseline.

Importantly, netakimab was found to be well tolerated, and most adverse effects were mild to moderate. No treatment-related severe adverse effects were reported.

Netakimab is already registered for treatment of ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis in Russia and is one to look out for in the UK in the future.

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