Latest Highlights from Guselkumab in Psoriasis from EADV 2019

Guselkumab was the first monoclonal antibody targeting the p19 subunit of IL-23 (IL-23p19) to be approved for the treatment of psoriasis. The registrational trials VOYAGE 1 and 2 established the efficacy and safety profile of guselkumab to Week 48 and demonstrated the superiority of guselkumab over placebo and adalimumab. A 5-year, open-label extension phase of both trials is currently ongoing. The poster and oral presentations reviewed here represent the latest data to emerge from the guselkumab clinical trial programme in psoriasis, as presented at the 28th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress. The ECLIPSE study was the first head-to-head trial between guselkumab and the IL-17A inhibitor secukinumab. Both agents were the first to be approved in their respective class with proven efficacy for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis but, until now, no direct comparisons were available to assist clinical decision making. Together with efficacy and safety, ECLIPSE also sought to understand the differential impact of IL-23 versus IL-17 inhibition on the immune profile of psoriatic skin and effector cytokines, providing insights into their respective mechanisms of action. Switching focus to the long term, the latest 3-year safety data from VOYAGE 1 and 2 are now available to accompany the established 3-year efficacy profile, providing unprecedented insights into the long-term response and tolerability of guselkumab for the treatment of psoriasis.