Risankizumab for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis

Objective: Risankizumab (Skyrizi), an interleukin-23 (IL-23) antagonist, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in April 2019. This article will review phase II and III clinical trials to assess the efficacy, safety, and clinical application of this drug. Data Sources: A systematic literature review was performed using the terms "psoriasis AND risankizumab" in the OVID MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases. ClinicalTrials.gov was searched to identify ongoing or nonpublished studies. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Articles written in English between January 2000 and October 2019 discussing phase II and phase III clinical trials were evaluated. Data Synthesis: By the primary end point at week 16 in phase III trials, more patients achieved Psoriasis Area and Severity Index 90 receiving 150 mg risankizumab (72%-75%) compared with placebo (2.0%-4.9%, P < 0.001), 45 or 90 mg ustekinumab (42.0%-48%, P < 0.0001), and 40 mg adalimumab (47%, P < 0.0001). More patients achieved a static Physician's Global Assessment score of 0 or 1 receiving 150 mg risankizumab (84%-88%) compared with placebo (5.1%-7.8%, P < 0.001), 45 or 90 mg ustekinumab (62%-63%, P < 0.0001), and 40 mg adalimumab (60%, P < 0.0001). Risankizumab was well tolerated across all studies. Conclusion: Risankizumab is a newly FDA-approved IL-23 inhibitor that shows particular promise in the treatment of plaque psoriasis. Based on this review, it is an effective and safe addition to the armamentarium of biologics that are currently available.