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Clinical Trial Completed for Psoriasis Antibody

Biotie Therapies, a drug discovery and development company in Finland, completed a phase 1 clinical trial of its vascular adhesion protein 1 (VAP-1) monoclonal antibody BTT-1023 in patients with plaque psoriasis, the most prevalent type of this disease. Plaque psoriasis affects some 8 in 10 psoriasis sufferers.

The clinical trial tested the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics (movement of BTT-1023 in the subjects) of repeated doses of the intravenously administered antibody in 26 patients with active plaque psoriasis. Biotie says the antibody, administered at repeated doses of up to 8 mg per kilogram, was generally well tolerated, and the pharmacokinetic characteristics of BTT-1023 in psoriasis patients were consistent with those observed in a previously completed study in rheumatoid arthritis patients. This early stage study was not designed to make formal statistical evaluations of therapeutic activity.

The company notes that while no change in disease activity was observed in any patient receiving the placebo during the treatment period, several patients taking BTT-1023 experienced an improvement in their condition, reflected as decreases in their Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) scores and physicians’ clinical assessments. No PASI score decreases of 50 percent were observed in the relatively short treatment period.

However, two patients on active drug were reported to have experienced a transient exacerbation of their psoriasis symptoms after the treatment had been completed. Apart from these two cases, no serious or severe adverse events were reported in the study subjects.

BTT-1023 is a human monoclonal antibody that targets VAP-1, an endothelial — referring to the layer of flat cells lining the closed spaces of the body such as the inside of blood vessels — adhesion molecule. Inhibiting VAP-1 reduces inflammation by regulating the migration of leukocytes, or white blood cells, to inflamed tissues. Pathological accumulation of white blood cells in tissue is a common feature in many autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and psoriasis.

1 comment to Clinical Trial Completed for Psoriasis Antibody

  • This is a great article, i never knew about this but its worrying the two people who had side effects, i think its best to treat psoriasis naturally.