A Closer Look at the Data Regarding Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in Psoriasis Patients: The Case of Brodalumab

The interleukin (IL)-17 inhibitors have proven to be highly effective in the treatment of psoriasis. The most recently approved agent, brodalumab, had few cases of suicidal behavior, including completed suicide, in the phase 3 clinical program leading both the US FDA and Health Canada to add a boxed warning to its label. This raises the importance of identifying the psychiatric comorbidities associated with psoriasis. It is also necessary to critically examine the data from the brodalumab clinical trial program to determine whether there is enough information to establish causality and whether other factors, other than the drug, could be playing a role.