Is risankizumab better than secukinumab in the treatment of plaque psoriasis?

Plaque psoriasis is a common inflammatory disease that causes raised, flaky plaques or patches on the skin. An abnormal immune system can be an important cause of psoriasis. Risankizumab and secukinumab are biologic drugs that are injected under a patient’s skin to treat different parts of the immune system. Both drugs are approved in the U. S. and E. U. to treat moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis. This international clinical study compared how well risankizumab and secukinumab treated moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis (efficacy) and evaluated how safe these drugs were for patients to use. Risankizumab (150 mg) or secukinumab (300 mg) were given to 327 adult psoriasis patients. After 16 weeks of treatment, researchers saw that risankizumab was not worse than secukinumab (noninferior) in treating psoriasis: 73·8% of patients treated with risankizumab achieved at least 90% improvement in the severity of their disease compared with 65·6% of patients treated with secukinumab. After 52 weeks of treatment, researchers saw that risankizumab was more effective than secukinumab (superior) in treating psoriasis: 86·6% of patients treated with risankizumab achieved at least 90% improvement in the severity of their disease compared with 57·1% of patients treated with secukinumab. At the same time, more patients treated with risankizumab than those treated with secukinumab also achieved clear or almost clear skin. Patients in this study were able to take either drug without any unanticipated problems. Linked Article:   Warren et al. Br J Dermatol 2021; 184 :50–59 .