Psoriasis treatment: effective new medicine available on NHS within weeks – iNews

A game-changing treatment for moderate to severe psoriasis could become available on the NHS within four weeks after being approved by the UK drugs regulator.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory (MHRA) has given the go-ahead for Bimekizumab to be used for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

The regulator authorised the drug after a major trial found it effectively cured 62 per cent of moderate to severe cases of the disease.

The breakthrough has the potential to transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the UK, who frequently feel physically uncomfortable and self-conscious because of their condition.

Psoriasis is a skin disease that affects more than 1.3 million people in the UK, causing red, itchy scaly patches, most commonly on the knees, elbows, trunk and scalp.

It is a common, long-term disease with no cure. About 200,000 people in the UK have a moderate to severe form of the disease.

We have witnessed first-hand the mental strength and resilience need to live with this condition and look forward to making this new treatment option available to patients, said Claire Brading, managing director UK and Ireland at UCB, the Belgium pharma company that developed the drug.

Doctors have welcomed the development.

Psoriasis impacts every part of the lives of people living with the condition, from work to relationships, said Professor Richard Warren, consultant dermatologist at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.

Bimekizumab has shown strong results in head-to-head trials with higher rates of skin clearance achieved versus some of the most prescribed therapies, a key outcome for patients. Its a highly effective option for patients suffering from moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, he said.

Existing treatments have improved the lives of thousands of people but these only work for a minority of patients and the effect often wears off after a year or so and symptoms return.

But trials of bimekizumab sold under the brand name Bimzelx show it is working well after two to three years and the researchers are confident that, for the vast majority of those patients who benefit, the effect will last for as long as it is needed, over many years.

As such, while its not a cure as it will come back if the treatment is stopped it completely removes the symptoms while the drug is taken, for the 62 per cent of patients it works for.

The new drug is initially given through an injection that is self-administered once a month to begin with and then every two months after 16 weeks.

Psoriasis is caused when an overactive immune system causes skin cells to grow too quickly. The drug works by dampening down its activity.

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Psoriasis treatment: effective new medicine available on NHS within weeks - iNews