Latest news with #psoriaticArthritis
Health Line
02-07-2025
- Health
- Health Line
Is Vitamin E Useful for Treating Psoriasis?
Some studies have shown that vitamin E supplementation may be effective for psoriasis, but it is not currently recommended as a treatment method. More research is necessary to investigate its effectiveness. Psoriasis is a condition characterized by patches and scales that develop on the skin. These can also affect the scalp, nails, or joints, and can be itchy and painful. The patches can be red or pink, but may also appear purple on darker skin, while scales can be white, silvery, or even gray. Psoriasis is a chronic, long-term condition, and the symptoms can be different for everyone. Some people may have periods of remission when they're not experiencing any symptoms, followed by flare-ups when their usual symptoms can return and be quite intense. For some, psoriasis may be only a skin condition, but for others, it may also present with pain, tenderness, and swelling in their joints that may need additional treatment. This is called psoriatic arthritis. The article will look at the evidence for vitamin E as potential treatment or additional supplement for psoriasis and its effectiveness. Can vitamin E treat psoriasis? Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means your body can store it in its tissues and use it later when necessary. Your body uses vitamin E for multiple purposes, including supporting immune function and protecting against oxidative stress. This helps maintain healthy skin, eyes, and joints. In a 2021 study on chronic inflammatory diseases, researchers found that participants with vitiligo, psoriasis, or atopic dermatitis had lower levels of vitamin E than the participants in the control group who didn't have these conditions. They also discovered that supplementation with vitamin E showed significant improvement of oxidative stress markers in the participants with psoriasis and vitiligo. Researchers suspect this might be due to vitamin E's effect on antioxidant formation and lipid metabolism. However, more investigation is necessary on the exact mechanism of vitamin E levels in inflammatory skin diseases before this can be offered and recommended as a treatment. A 2024 study also concluded that higher antioxidant intake, particularly higher vitamin E levels, was associated with a lower likelihood of psoriasis. More research is still necessary to explore how targeted dietary interventions could help manage the condition. Research underscored the importance of nutrition and vitamin E intake for the management of psoriasis, but vitamin E supplementation is not currently a treatment method for the condition. While current research has shown some of its benefits, vitamin E is still not recommended as a long-term treatment. What are the treatment methods for psoriasis? Many topical treatments for psoriasis are available over the counter. These include: Coal tar shampoos, creams, ointments, or bath solutions: Coal tar can reduce redness, itching, and swelling. However, coal tar can also irritate the skin, so it's important to test it out first by applying it on a small patch of skin before covering any other areas affected by psoriasis. Hydrocortisone creams and ointments: These can reduce inflammation and itchiness. Ointments can be more soothing than creams on dry or cracked skin. Moisturizer: A daily moisturiser can seal in hydration and soothe the skin. It's important to choose a product that's appropriate for your skin and fragrance-free. Scale softeners: These can help reduce swelling and remove the scales. Try products with ingredients like salicylic acid, lactic acid, or urea to soften and remove the scales. Salicylic acid can sometimes be irritating on the skin, so use it according to instructions. Anti-itch products: Look out for products that contain the following ingredients to soothe the itch that may come with psoriasis: calamine camphor hydrocortisone menthol Other treatments for psoriasis include phototherapy or systemic treatments. Healthcare professionals usually prescribe these for moderate to severe psoriasis and for psoriatic arthritis. Reach out to a healthcare professional or dermatologist if you need more information about treatment methods for psoriasis and what would be most suitable for you. Takeaway Studies suggest a correlation between vitamin E levels and psoriasis. However, more research is necessary to investigate whether vitamin E can be a useful complementary therapy for the treatment of psoriasis. Plenty of treatments for psoriasis include topical therapies such as ointments and moisturisers that contain targeted ingredients such as coal tar or salicylic acid. Reach out to a dermatologist if you have questions or concerns about the condition.
Medscape
25-06-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Psoriatic Arthritis From the Dermatologist's Perspective
Tina Bhutani, MD, MAS, FAAD: Hi, everybody. I'm Dr Tina Bhutani. I'm a board-certified dermatologist practicing in San Francisco, California. I'm excited to be here today to discuss psoriatic arthritis from a dermatologist's perspective. I'm joined by my colleagues Dr Mona Shahriari and Dr Jason Hawkes. Would you guys like to introduce yourselves? Mona, do you want to start? Mona Shahriari, MD, FAAD: Thank you so much, Tina, for having me. I'm a dermatologist out of Connecticut. I run a clinical trial center, so I live and breathe inflammatory skin disease, including psoriasis. I'm very excited for the conversation. Bhutani: Love it. Jason? Jason E. Hawkes, MD, MS: Hi, everyone. Like Mona, I'm also a dermatologist and run a clinical trial center. I'm co-owner, chief scientific officer, and investigator at Oregon Medical Research Center in Portland, Oregon. We treat all inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Screening Tools for the Dermatologist Bhutani: We couldn't have a better group to discuss this topic. I think this is really important, because I know I've heard from many people that when we talk about psoriatic arthritis, people say, oh, that's a rheumatologist's problem. Whenever they think a patient might have psoriatic arthritis or they're worried about it, they send them straight to the rheumatologist. The issue in my area, and probably similar to yours, is it's really hard to get into a rheumatologist. The access is quite tough. From my perspective, I think it's important for us to at least screen our patients, try to get as close to a diagnosis as possible, and potentially even start treatment if we think that this patient is progressing pretty quickly. To start, I would love to know your approach when you are suspecting psoriatic arthritis. Let's even step back. Maybe you have a patient with psoriasis, and we know they have psoriasis on their skin. How are you screening them at your visits, or are you screening them at your visits, for psoriatic arthritis? Shahriari: Honestly, I think as dermatologists, we're in a unique position because 85% of our psoriatic arthritis patients are going to present with skin as the first sign of their arthritic disease. I tell my residents all the time that you have to fully undress your patient. Do that head-to-toe exam and look for inverse psoriasis, scalp psoriasis, and nail psoriasis, because all of those can clue you into this patient being maybe at slightly higher risk for psoriatic arthritis. I include a joint screening as part of any workup of any of my psoriasis patients, even if they have mild disease. Data show that whether they have mild, moderate, or severe psoriasis, they can still be at risk for psoriatic arthritis. I can always go into how I screen, but I'd love to hear, Jason, if you do anything differently. Hawkes: I love that tip. I think that's really important, to have patients fully undress. I think we do that primarily because these high-impact sites are more difficult-to-treat because they don't always want to talk about these areas — like the genitals, for example, or even scalp. I think in the same way, many patients aren't talking about their joints because they haven't made the connection between their skin disease and their joint disease. When getting them into a gown and doing the full-body exam, I like to focus on the skin first. We talk about their psoriasis, but then I like to walk them back and say, you know, you've got a disease that primarily manifests in the skin, but you may start to have other health issues. You introduce the concept of comorbidities and then you ask, do you know your psoriasis can involve your joints? Then you start walking through some of those symptoms because it kind of feels like a natural progression. Obviously, swollen joints and painful joints. We talk about the osteoarthritis vs psoriatic arthritis, which is helpful. Dactylitis is one of those tried and true symptoms; when it's there and present, then there's a good likelihood of psoriatic arthritis. We spend a large amount of time teasing out the joint pain pattern because many people have joint pains in general. The problem is that many of those patients don't have psoriatic arthritis. Instead, they might have osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia. The good thing with the skin is that it's the easy part. When you see psoriasis, most of the time you know it, but joint pain in the absence of skin disease, that's much more difficult. We also get patients from rheumatology to try to help tease out whether their joint pain's associated with a nonspecific rash such as eczema or is this really psoriatic arthritis in the setting of mild plaque psoriasis? The Importance of Asking the Right Questions Bhutani: To Mona's point, I think we are lucky that when patients are coming into our clinic, they most likely already have psoriasis. It's our job to tease apart the other parts of it. Sometimes, like you said, when they have joint pain without skin disease and they end up in rheumatology, it's much harder oftentimes to nail down or be very confident with the diagnosis. We often get inflammatory arthropathy or something along those lines. They don't really put their money down and say it's psoriatic arthritis, unless they have psoriasison the skin. Jason, you mentioned a few questions that you ask about swollen joints and tender joints. I also talk about morning stiffness. Fatigue is a big one. I think fatigue is one of these that is a huge sign of psoriatic arthritis, but who doesn't feel tired? Even teasing that apart, is this normal fatigue from somebody who's very busy living life, or is it actual, pathologic fatigue that shouldn't be happening at age 35 or something like that? Are there other specific questions that you guys are asking, or alternatively, do you guys use any formal questionnaires like the Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST) questionnaire or any psoriatic arthritis screening tools in your clinic? Hawkes: I don't necessarily use the PEST formally — like we don't hand somebody a sheet at check-in. I think the questions are easy to remember. I've mentioned a couple of them already. Heel pain, plantar fasciitis is a common problem, so I certainly ask about that, and the morning stiffness. Also, describing what it feels like to have plantar fasciitis, sacroiliac (SI) joint pain, etc. We start looking, as Mona mentioned, at the nails and the scalp, and looking for tender joints. I've had a few patients that basically said, my joints feel fine. But I looked and I saw one of their knees that was swollen and red, and they just figured it was due to something else. I think those are parts of the history that then couple with our exam, and we start to put the two things together — the skin and the joint findings. Shahriari: Jason, to echo that point, psoriatic arthritis is a clinical diagnosis. We don't have biomarkers that can help us nail down that specific diagnosis, so it is really crucial to get that history. Sometimes I say just because the joint swelling and tenderness isn't present on that day in the exam room, it doesn't mean they don't have psoriatic arthritis. Somebody who has psoriasis of the skin, has pitting of the nails, maybe some scalp involvement, too, and then they have this remote history of a swollen joint, but today, I can't elicit anything. Do they not have psoriatic arthritis? I think keeping all the domains of psoriatic arthritis in mind is very important. I use Dr Merola's mnemonic, it's as easy as 'PSA,' to remember the questions that I ask. P stands for pain, so you ask about the peripheral joints, pain in the heel, and pain in the elbow. S is for stiffness, so any stiffness after periods of immobility. A is for questions about axial disease. As dermatologists, sometimes we might not be sure. A PEST questionnaire is a good idea. It's an easy five- to six-question questionnaire that is easy for patients to do when they're waiting for us, given how busy some of our clinics are. I know I'm always running behind. Decision-Making Surrounding Medication Selection Shahriari: I do think, if I'm in doubt, why not give them a drug that covers the joints until they can see the rheumatologist? There's really no harm that I could do. Either I didn't adequately treat the joints and they'll add something, or they get diagnosed with something else and they're still on a medicine that covers their skin well. I don't know if you guys have a different approach. Bhutani: No, I agree. Sometimes I even use some of the highly effective treatments that we have as a diagnostic tool. I say, if your joint pains and your fatigue — let's say they're nonspecific — get better if I treat them with a biologic agent, for example, it kind of nails it into my head that, okay, this probably was psoriatic arthritis and I was right vs this might be something else, like fibromyalgia or osteoarthritis that Jason mentioned earlier. Sometimes I even use our treatments to help me confirm or feel more confident about the diagnosis in those patients where I'm questioning it a little bit. Hawkes: I think it highlights the gaps. As mentioned, there are no biomarkers. When we think about the testing for psoriatic arthritis, outside of x-rays and maybe ultrasound, which dermatology really doesn't do, we really don't have a good lab test. We're talking about patients that are rheumatoid factor negative, but we know that some patients with rheumatoid arthritis aren't going to have positive serology. We don't really have a good biomarker for PsA. Even with the treatments, the treatments for the joints are so far behind immunologically where the skin is. We've pushed the needle of skin improvement so high to where we're getting eight or nine out of 10 patients almost completely clear. We're not really talking about American College of Rheumatology (ACR) scores of 90 or 100. Rather, we're talking about ACR 50 and 70 as being big, dramatic changes in the joints. I think this is important for patients to understand, too, because even when we use therapies when patients do have psoriatic arthritis, their joints don't always respond. Even with an agent that has an indication for both skin and joint. These are the patients that keep me up at night. For the uncomplicated, straightforward plaque psoriasis patient, we have many great agents. Even for those same agents that are approved, we don't always see a joint response. It uncovers the gap that we have, the real need in psoriatic disease to really advance therapies for the joints. To have a biomarker would be worthwhile, especially for those patients who have subclinical joint disease, because that's the timepoint where we can make the biggest difference by preventing permanent joint destruction. Bhutani: It's funny. I just gave a talk with a rheumatologist recently and he said, I always hate going after the dermatologist because like you said, we're talking about Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score of 90 or 100, and then he comes in and says, the ACR score is 20. You're right, it's not as impressive, although even an ACR of 20 can be very impactful for a patient who's living with psoriatic arthritis. I still think it's important to put that into perspective. Mona, I think you were about to say something? Shahriari: I was just going to say, along the lines of the gaps, I think skin of color is another place where there is work to be done. Diagnosing psoriasis can be challenging in skin of color, which is partly why psoriatic arthritis is actually less likely to be diagnosed in a timely fashion. In many patients with skin of color, the pain associated with the arthritis may also be misdiagnosed, which can further lead to delays in therapy. There was a mentor of mine who used to use the phrase 'time is bone,' and the more time that goes by, the more bone that we lose. I think it's really important, especially in patients who may have melanin-rich skin, to have that index of suspicion that maybe it is a psoriatic arthritis that they're dealing with and not some other nonspecific arthritis. Bhutani: I always tell my patients when they come in with just skin disease that we can try other things. We can try topicals, we can do phototherapy, and we can try other things to see if it helps. We might still end up on a systemic agent, but I still say that we can give it a try if it makes you more comfortable. With psoriatic arthritis, I don't give them that option. I describe it to them as almost like scarring. Once that scar is there, once the bone has started to be destroyed, we can't get it back. Those changes are irreversible, and that's why early treatment is so critical. We briefly mentioned it earlier, but I wanted to go over the different types of psoriatic arthritis, or let's say the features or what are called the domains of psoriatic arthritis. GRAPPA, which is the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis, has put out these domains for psoriatic arthritis. Two of the domains are axial disease vs peripheral disease. Does one of you want to go into the details of that a little bit, and then we'll go into the other domains? Hawkes: It makes sense in just the anatomical sense of peripheral disease vs axial disease. There was a great talk by one of the rheumatologists in Europe that basically said, don't make it more complicated than that. We're talking about the axis (spine and SI joints) or we're talking about peripheral disease (joints of the arms and legs). There are nuances between the two, and there is a gradient or spectrum for how they present. For peripheral disease, we're really talking about those joints away from the spine and hips or pelvis. By classifying the two types, I think that's really in the hope that maybe we find a group where, for example, peripheral disease responds better than axial disease, or the other way around. Drilling down is on these two types helps us approach personalized medicine or tailored treatments based on their pattern of joint involvement. I think this is the dream for rheumatology, just like the dream for dermatology is to know which rash responds to a very specific medication or a subtype, for example. Bhutani: Agreed. I think it's important to also highlight that the reason it's important to recognize the axial vs peripheral disease is that sometimes the axial disease tends to be, first of all, a little bit tougher to diagnose,and then second of all, it's a little slower to respond or a little harder to treat. It's important to separate those pieces. I think that's why they've been separated into these other domains. The other things we talk about are dactylitis and enthesitis. These are endpoints that are oftentimes looked at in clinical trials. Dactylitis is swelling and inflammation of that entire finger — what we call 'sausage digits.' Enthesitis is inflammation of those points where the tendons enter the bone — so, the tender tendons. Most classically, we talk about the Achilles tendon, but many other tendons can be involved. A Focus on the Joints Bhutani: Mona, are these areas that you are evaluating during your physical exam? I know we talked about screening questions, but are you looking for these types of things in your exam? Shahriari: That's an excellent question. I think if you tell a dermatologist to do a joint exam, they're going to freak out and say, wait, what are you asking me to do? I'm not doing a joint-by-joint exam the way that a rheumatologist would do. No one would even expect me to do that. I do try to put pressure on some of those key areas, kind of like Jason mentioned, such as the SI joint. I touch the elbows, the heels, and areas that tend to be hotspots. I even palpate the fingers. It's just part of my exam. I'm touching the patient's joints, squeezing down, and I ask if anything feels tender. I think it's a really easy way for us to be able to pick up on some of these symptoms, but I do find both enthesitis and dactylitis wax and wane. Even if they don't have it during that visit, I still ask about it because if they had a remote history of it, it still means they are positive for this particular domain of psoriatic arthritis. Bhutani: To Jason's point earlier, I think while doing that exam is a great time to get that education in, because oftentimes their appointments are short. While you're doing the exam, you can talk to them about why you're doing it, what psoriatic arthritis is, and how many patients are affected. It's a really great time to also plug your education, even if they don't have any tender or swollen joints at that point. In the final couple of minutes, I wanted to ask you guys about treatments and if there are certain treatments that you lean toward in patients who have psoriatic arthritis. Maybe we can even get into the nuances of the peripheral vs axial disease or if they have more dactylitis or enthesitis. Are there any drugs that you are leaning toward or any classes of drugs? Hawkes: I think big picture, when we're talking about those patients who have psoriatic arthritis, with or without skin disease, in general, my experience has been what many others have shared where the anti-interleukin (IL)-23s don't have as good of success in the joints as other agents, such as anti-IL-17 medications. This was obvious to me when we did some of the clinical trials where we had patients whose skin did great on the anti-IL-23s, but their joints worsened, and for some of these patients, going back to a TNF inhibitor or an IL-17, even if their skin maybe lost some response, their joints improved. I think we haven't fully teased that out yet. However, there are some patients who do really well with the skin and the joints with IL-23s in general. I think the anti-IL-17s may work a little bit better in skin and joints, although they're also given more frequently. Additionally, it's always interesting to me to think about how w e sometimes dose the skin higher than the joints. I wonder if we shouldn't be doing exactly the opposite, where we should be dosing the joints higher and more frequently than the skin. It may be that anti-IL-23 medications don't work as well because of the way they're administered compared to the IL-17s, for example. It's really interesting to think about the JAK inhibitors, where some medications that we know are approved for psoriatic arthritis only but really weren't studied or pursued in plaque psoriasis. I think that underscores some of the differences in the immunology there as well. We certainly have a group of immune cells, which are not necessarily under the regulatory control of IL-23. I think that's part of the potential explanation, but I think we also start to see more of a mixed bag, probably some type 1 disease inflammation that probably contributes to psoriatic arthritis. We talk about psoriatic skin disease leading to joint disease, but PsA may have some of its own unique immunology that I don't think we fully appreciate because many of our assumptions are based on data from the skin that we just hope translate to the joints. I think those assumptions haven't always played out to be true. In general, the IL-17s for dermatology and rheumatology have been a leader for these reasons, maybe because it balances IL-17 blockade with the ideal frequency of dosing. Shahriari: I think just to build upon, Jason, your comments on the TNF inhibitors, I seldom if ever prescribe them anymore nowadays. As a dermatologist, I do think the safety profile of IL-17s and IL-23s are superior. If a patient has uveitis, I might consider a TNF just from that standpoint. I do love the safety of the IL-23s, though, so I try to tease out that axial component to see if an IL-17 is warranted. If I don't see anything that stands out for axial disease, many times I do start with the IL-23. If I'm not getting full improvement of the joints, and if their symptoms are persisting beyond the 6-month mark, then I consider that this might be someone I should either refer to rheumatology for another opinion or I consider switching to an IL-17. Sometimes it's important to have rheumatology weigh in because [patients] may have an osteoarthritis superimposed on the psoriatic arthritis that is leading to symptoms that cannot be treated with targeted psoriatic therapies. Do you guys do it differently? Bhutani: I think that's my approach as well. It's changed over time. I used to lean towards the IL-17s as my go-to if they had psoriatic arthritis. Mona, like you mentioned, I think I'm using more of the IL-23s, given the safety profile and the benefits of dosing that the patients really love. If it's not helping or if it's only partially helping their joints, then we might consider going to an IL-17 at that point, or even back to a TNF inhibitor, like you said, Jason. For example, etanercept, which we don't use in dermatology anymore, rheumatologists are still prescribing it. I think it gets back to your point about how that efficacy in the skin does not always equate to the efficacy in the joints. There is this mismatch there. Hawkes: I just had a patient actually today who has very clear classic plaque psoriasis, bad joint disease, and has basically failed all of the IL-23s and the IL-17s. She had a rheumatologist and went on adalimumab and had excellent response. The skin hasn't been great, but the joints were dramatically improved and mostly pain-free. Again, it underscores the gaps in PsA, but I always tell patients that for skin, we can pretty much clear it as we have many good options. Treating joints is sometimes a moving target. It's a dynamic process. I think it's important and it makes perfect sense to start a drug that's really convenient and works great in skin like the anti-IL-23 or 17s. Nothing's amazing in the joints, but we're getting better and better. We start there and work our way backward based on the clinical response. I think that makes sense. Bhutani: Thank you both for taking time out of your day to have this great discussion. I think we have come so far in the treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, but I think our conversation also tells us how much we still have to learn. I hope that all of us will continue that hard work and continue to help find our patients a cure, hopefully, in the future. Thank you so much. Shahriari: Thank you. Hawkes: Thank you.
Medscape
17-06-2025
- Health
- Medscape
S3 Episode 5: Smartphones and the Future of Psoriasis Care
This transcript has been edited for clarity. For more episodes, download the Medscape app or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast provider. Steven Feldman, MD, PhD: Hi, I am Dr Steve Feldman. Welcome to Medscape's InDiscussion series on psoriasis. Today, in episode five of season three, we'll discuss digital assessment tools for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis with the director of both the Penn Psoriatic Arthritis and Spondyloarthritis Program and the Penn Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, her research includes the development and validation of digital assessment tools such as smartphone applications to remotely measure cutaneous and musculoskeletal signs of psoriatic disease. Let's welcome Dr Alexis Ogdie to InDiscussion . Alexis Ogdie, MD, MSCE: Thanks so much for having me today. Feldman: I'm so glad you could be on. Alexis, I understand the Penn Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, which you direct, has about 200 faculty, including at least two of the top dermatologic epidemiologists in the world. Maybe the two top dermatologic epidemiologists. Being the director at such an important center must be a gratifying and uniformly uplifting experience. Does directing something like that require attendance at a lot of meetings? Ogdie: It does require a lot of meetings — many more meetings than anticipated. But it is also incredibly exciting and fun, and uplifting is a good word for it because I get to hear about all kinds of things going on in all kinds of domains of research, especially clinical research and epidemiology: all the cool things that biostatisticians and informaticians are doing to make the world an easier place to study things and to kind of figure things out and watch people as they go through clinical care too. Feldman: I'm trained as a biochemist and have no interest in that. I'm interested in health services research and the stuff Penn does in dermatology, and you know, in general in medicine. It's just amazing. Ogdie: There's so many cool intersections between health services, clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, and bioinformatics that can interact with health services too. Adherence, which I know you study, is one of the things that sometimes takes some different algorithms to measure, too. There are lots of fun things in that space. Feldman: One of the things I've struggled with in adherence is when I do studies that use electronic monitors to measure people's use of medicine every day. A lot of times, they're not using the medicine. It could be because they're suffering, and they don't use it. Or it could be that their skin disease went away, in which case I don't want them putting the topical steroid on it. I need to have a measure of their disease severity all the time, because if all I have is when they come back in a month, the ones who used the medicine really well, it cleared up, and then they stopped using the medicine — it looks like poor adherence is associated with better outcomes. Ogdie: This is one of my fun pieces of being an epidemiologist is that you get to think about how these different variables interact and the potential bias that could be causing these spurious outcomes. That's a great example of one fun area, but also talking about digital biomarkers, a great opportunity, because some of these digital biomarkers and other ways of getting data that's happening in an everyday way can help with understanding those relationships. If we only see the patient at certain intervals and measure only a couple of variables that are most important to us, then we're only capturing what we see as opposed to all the things we don't see. Feldman: I enjoyed reading your article, 'Clinical Validation of Digitally acquired Clinical Data and Machine Learning Models for Remote Measurement of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis'. You had me at remote measurement of psoriasis. You're probably more interested in the remote measurement of the arthritis. The article begins by saying psoriatic disease remains underdiagnosed and undertreated. Is the technology you're developing going to address unmet needs like those? Will it make the diagnosis? Is it going to recommend treatments? Ogdie: Well, so that's a good question. So, the app that is being discussed is called the Psorcast app. So this was developed by Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Clinics Multicenter Advancement Network Consortium (PPACMAN), an organization that brings together dermatologists and rheumatologists to think about multidisciplinary care. And in that sense, one of the reasons for calling it Psorcast is, the ideal biomarker or digital biomarker would be able to say among patients with psoriasis, "Hey, you may be developing psoriatic arthritis because we notice that you're walking differently." Or we notice that your wrist movements have changed, for example, and can that help us predict or forecast who's developing psoriatic arthritis and needs to be seen by a rheumatologist? In that way it may help us diagnose, but not the tool itself, diagnosing, but the tool saying, 'You need to get to someone who can measure that appropriately and see if we can come up with a diagnosis.' Feldman: Tell me what does this tool measure exactly? Ogdie: The tool measures the body surface area of psoriasis. There's a psoriasis draw tool where they can draw in where the psoriasis is. They can take pictures of their psoriasis, look at the erythema and duration, and scaling, for example. They can take pictures of their fingers, so we can see dactylitis by measuring one nail vs the other nails. We have specific nail pictures where they can take a picture of the nails. Those are hard because obviously you can't see under the nails for pieces of it, but you can see general things there. Some of the more fun or unique measures include patient-reported outcomes, but I think the fun and unique measures that we have, there is a walking test, so we can look at the amplitude of your walk. You put the phone in your pocket, you first have to push on or go to start the test. And then it gives people instructions verbally so that they can hear it as they're doing a little walk test, kind of walking back and forth. And it's measuring the amplitude of someone's walk and we're looking for changes over time; are there changes in the walk? Additionally, it measures wrist, mobility, and it's just kind of like wrist, elbow, and shoulder. So their phone is on the table, and you're turning it, and it can measure how far you can turn it, for example. These are some different tools that we've built thinking that these may be helpful. And that was part of the study was just doing an initial validation of can we capture the data? There's a larger validation study that's ongoing to see can we measure all pieces of this? And does that work for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis patients, too? Feldman: This is awesome. What do young people do with phones? It's just amazing. I was thinking you'd have to glue some sensors onto people's ankles, knees, and hips, and then really capture some minute data, but you captured so much just with the phone itself. Ogdie: Phones now have sensitive goniometers, so you can get motion and accelerometers, and so all those pieces together can capture really large amounts of data, not to mention the fantastic cameras. And then if you combine that with an Apple watch, let's say, you can also get reasonable data on sleep, heart rate, et cetera. You're getting so much information that we can potentially use to understand health outcomes, whether that be looking at cardiovascular risk in a psoriasis patient or looking at psoriatic arthritis risk vs how it's happening or just general health. Feldman: Yeah, I've wondered if that Apple Watch could tell me who's scratching and when they're scratching as a best continuous measure of skin disease severity for something like psoriasis or eczema. Ogdie: Exactly. I think Lourdes Perez-Chada, who's one of the authors on this paper — I think she was the first author, maybe, I can't remember for sure — she's testing some of those things with different digital devices as well and how it interrupts sleep. Feldman: This paper validated this tool. So when I see patients with psoriasis. I think I get most of the information I need for treatment purposes by asking them, how are you doing? You know, you're doing great. Yeah, I'm doing great. Well, man, I'm not going to change anything. Oh, I'm not doing so well; then I'm going to change the therapy. That's about it. Do I need a validated tool in my practice? Or do I need a validated tool for research? Odgie: Initially this would be for research and for patient interest. I'm very interested in all my digital biomarkers. I have my Oura ring and my Apple Watch and so on, so I like to watch my own data and that's part of what we anticipate that people using this will like to watch their own movement, for example. In clinical practice, there's this problem called the 5,000 hours problem or this concept that we're only seeing short segments of time in the patient's life. And so we don't see all the other things that are happening. In another study that we're doing, we're asking patients at intervals questions about their psoriasis, and then if they're flaring, and 50% of the time, people say they're flaring. So there may be some variability in how people are doing. So this is meant to kind of understand better what the variability is in how people are doing. For example, also, in psoriatic arthritis in particular, I think also in psoriasis, the faster someone responds, the better they feel, and sometimes will take trade-offs for taking a longer time to get to the same level of disease activity. One of the things that we want to test with this app is whether we can see the trajectories over time and how people respond to therapy and get some insights about what may be better for certain people, or how certain therapies may work differently for certain people. Feldman: The new measures are very interesting. What measures have we usually used to measure disease? My guess is you rheumatologists spend more time with the patient: spend more time recording useless, validated, quantitative measures than I do. Ogdie: We do record a lot of things. We have a paper, I think we had an abstract recently, or we'll have an actual and paper that demonstrates that, you know, as specialists in psoriatic arthritis, we are better at capturing lots of different kinds of data than a general rheumatologist seeing all different kinds of things. But then the question is actually, does it matter or not? That's a separate question for a separate day. But we do capture all kinds of things in our specialty clinic, including tendered, swollen joint counts, and these number of enthesis that are tender, swollen — really, dactylitis. We capture psoriasis body surface area and the Physician Global Assessment erythema scale. And then we also capture nail disease. So we're writing down all of these things, and they do make a difference in terms of thinking about what the patient has active right now and how we want to select a therapy. I think one of the other good things about capturing data objectively and repeatedly capturing it objectively is that it keeps us on track toward a goal and makes sure that we know whether things are going up or down for the patient. For example, when a patient comes in, you ask them how they're doing, and they say I'm doing quite well. You know, I feel really good today. But you see that the score for the RAPID3 (Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3) index, which we use in our clinic, has gone up, pretty substantially from the last time they're in, you know, that's now a new reference point. So they're feeling pretty good today compared to how they felt 2 weeks ago, but they're still not doing very well. And so, having that objective data point helps you make a comprehensive treatment plan and then put everything into perspective. So I think in some ways it gives it a full perspective. Feldman: I think the way people see things is colored by the context in which they see it, and you're dealing with a disease that can cause scarring and permanent deformity and disability, and I'm dealing with a disease with skin involvement, which is where I say 'Hey, you clear up the skin disease, the skin's back to normal.' Because the skin is like one of the best organs in your body, maybe the best, well, most important organ in your body. Ogdie: Well, I mean we can contend whether that's true or not, but it is the largest, I suppose. And also it is, in my opinion, one of the easiest to assess, because you can see it. So we're often assessing a lot of different things you can't see, which is challenging. Feldman: After reading your article, I thought about if you've just had a little stand for the phone on a rod that goes around you and goes up as it goes around and it would give you a helical scan of the body and not only could you tell if there were any moles that had changed, you'd really fully capture their psoriasis disease severity. Do you just have people take a few pictures? Ogdie: Yeah, we just have them take a picture of a representative plaque, and that kind of follows what's done in clinical trials in general. There's a target lesion often, so essentially we're having them pick a target lesion that we can kind of continue to follow over time as they're on therapy. Feldman: Does the phone in your system capture the full body surface area? Ogdie: The patient kind of does a little drawing. And there's a little video you can make. So over time, they will continue to add different days when they're measuring their body surface area, and then it will do a little video. It can spin the body, and it can also show over time how that's changing. It's kind of nice, I think. Patients like the idea that they can see their body surface area psoriasis going down, and every time point when you're putting something and you know only what is today and there's good data that says that maybe your 7-day recall is pretty good, your 4-week a recall is okay, but beyond that, it's not so good. Like almost logged recall, so you don't have to remember back then. And that shows you where you've been and where you're going. Feldman: Yeah. Do you ask them about adherence to their treatments? Ogdie: Not in this one, in a different study. I think there is a single question about that. If I had not had to go back and remember, it's not something we put in the paper, but, there may be a question about treatment and treatment satisfaction. In other studies, we do do that. We ask about treatment satisfaction, treatment adherence. We actually just finished a dietary trial where we were asking about adherence daily so that they would have, it's almost like a feedback mechanism. Feldman: Yeah. Excellent. Well, they're probably lying. Ogdie: Well, it'll be interesting to see — we're analyzing that data now because we have actual urine biomarkers, for example, and other things. Feldman: Oh, nice. So you're measuring adherence by your environment now. That's cool. Ogdie: That'll be fun to analyze. Feldman: Yeah, and lying may not be the right word, because like you say, they don't remember — recall is a factor, and recalling adherence to pills or whatever treatments can be tough. Ogdie: It is. Yeah. In one of our other trials, we have a pragmatic trial where we're randomizing patients to one of three treatments, and they have to log when they receive it. And then they log again when they take it, because otherwise, exactly: No one remembers what day they took their last biologic dose, or many patients don't remember that. Feldman: Are you using digital tools or AI in other ways? Ogdie: One of our studies is examining predictors of developing axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpa) in the [electronic health records]. So there we're using text-based tools. So, picking up people talking about Achilles tendon pain, for example, in a primary care appointment, and trying to figure out how long did that happen before they developed their AxSpa? And if there was a series of features that were being mentioned, should someone have thought about that diagnosis at a certain time? And is there a way to identify or flag those patients? Other ways we're using AI or digital tools or in large databases, again using coded data. So ICD codes, for example, or prescriptions to say, could we predict when someone's developing psoriatic arthritis or AxSpa? One of my colleagues is doing vasculitis like that. All of these things though, require us to utilize existing data. And one of the main problems with existing data is that there's a lot missing from existing data. So you only get the snapshot that you're looking at. It's like picking what you want to stare at, and then you just stare at that. So we're missing so many other things like the fact that someone's got wrist pain and so they're on the web looking for wrist pain. What is my wrist pain? Or they're ordering something from Amazon to go over their knee because they're having knee pain. And all of those things could be so helpful in understanding whether someone's developing psoriatic arthritis and it's not going be in a code anywhere. So AI is only as helpful as the data you plug into it, and that's one of the challenges today. Feldman: Oh my, that reminds me of the story that I think Target sent some family. Ogdie: Yes. Pregnancy materials and that. Yeah, exactly. Feldman: Before the family knew they were pregnant. Yeah, so I wonder if Amazon has the data now to tell us who's developing psoriatic arthritis before we or the patient even knows. Ogdie: Well, they probably do, they just don't have the outcome. So in this case, they have maybe all the exposures we might want among Prime members, for example. If you're buying things from all different places, it wouldn't be as helpful. But you know, they don't know the patient has disease X, Y, or Z. So, if we could merge those two things, maybe we could come up with lots of interesting insights. But, you know, then we have to talk about the balance between privacy and good prediction models. Feldman: I mean, if I were an insurer, I'd want to work with Google and find out who had joint pain ahead of time, so I would know not to sell them a policy that covered biologics. Ogdie: Yeah. There's some definite dangers in the use of these tools as well. Not in the way we've designed our current tools, so to be clear, but in tools that could involve more, other extraneous information. We can learn a lot. We can probably do a lot of good at the same time. Just like all the conversations around AI in, in the world. There's the dark side of that, which is insurance companies or someone blocking them from getting assistance for something. Feldman: This iPhone I have is not the newest model, but the camera on it probably sees better than I do. Its memory is certainly better than mine at my age, and it can be trained on more skin diseases and things than I can be trained on. So I'm wondering, you know, I've been thinking about taking my wife on a long cruise to Antarctica, which would mean being out of the clinic for a prolonged period, but I'm thinking pretty soon it won't matter because they're not going to need me. Ogdie: Well, I still believe that we are always going to have a role and an important role. So it's just like the, you know, first of all, for rheumatology, we need all the help we can get. Because we just don't have enough visits for everybody. I think that and we have a major workforce issue. And that workforce issue is going to continue to be a problem even more so in the next 10 years. And I know dermatology has not enough visits for everyone too. So if we could reduce some of the burden or a allow patients to have more self-efficacy and kind of control parts of their own disease and help them with self-management, I think we'd be doing a service to all of, us because then you wouldn't get as many phone calls when you're in Antarctica that you have to answer. I think that's where we want to take some of these tools. How can you help the patient take care of themselves? And then the doctor still has a role and they have to help interpret in light of the information, in light of who the patient is. But maybe we can take some of that off the doctor, so we can use the doctors for the more complex pieces. Feldman: Yeah, I don't know. I've been using Claude to help me write thank-you notes and things, and Claude knows everything. Ogdie: It knows a lot. It's interesting though, if you ask some of these things about psoriatic arthritis, it takes what's on the web and a lot of what's on the web is patient blogs. For example, patient blogs of psoriatic arthritis and AxSpa are dominated by like fibromyalgia type discussions, and so what they know of our diseases is more about pain, and so it's not as much about some of the other pieces. So there's a biased kind of idea of what is in the general lexicon. Feldman: Yeah, It will be interesting to see what would happen if you asked some patients' questions, typical questions. I'm in pain, I'm in these areas to the doctor versus to the AI, and see who gives more empathetic, caring, accurate responses. Ogdie: No, that's a separate thing. That is very true. You can definitely train it to give a certain type of voice. Feldman: Yeah, well today we've had Dr Alexis Ogdie discussing digital assessment tools. We've learned that you can remote monitor with just your phone in many, many ways. These digital tools may give patients another quantum leap forward in terms of the questions that they can answer for themselves. I hope you all will come back for episode six, where we'll conclude this season with Dr April Armstrong discussing new and novel topical therapies for psoriasis. Thank you so much for joining us. This is Dr Steve Feldman for Medscape's Psoriasis InDiscussion . Listen to additional seasons of this podcast. Clinical Validation of Digitally Acquired Clinical Data and Machine Learning Models for Remote Measurement of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis: A Proof-of-Concept Study Psorcast Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Clinics Multicenter Advancement Network Consortium (PPACMAN) 2021 Annual Meeting Proceedings Sleep Problems in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis: A Systematic Literature Review and Metaanalysis The Impact of Dietary Interventions in Psoriatic Arthritis
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Adam Thomas shares 'life-changing' health update revealing he's pain-free for the first time in two years after diagnosis
Adam Thomas has issued an update on his struggle with arthritis, telling his followers 'my life has completely changed'. The former Emmerdale star, 36, was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis - a long-term condition that causes pain, swelling and stiffness in joints and is incurable - before his time on Strictly Come Dancing in 2023. Adam has kept his followers updated on his struggles since, heartbreakingly admitting in late 2024 that he was left 'barely able to walk' due to the severity of the pain. The actor had previously revealed that he had been in pain every single day for two years after also being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. But in a life-changing update on Tuesday, the Waterloo Road star told his followers he is at last pain-free thanks to a miraculous biologic injection. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Looking in great spirits, Adam captioned a selfie of himself: 'These last few weeks… my life completely changed! 'As some of you know, I've been battling psoriatic arthritis for the past 3 years and it's been tough, Constant pain, constant struggle. But today I can say something I honestly never thought I would… I'm pain free!! 'Not a bit better, not improving but ZERO pain! None. For the first time in YEARS. 'A few weeks ago I had my first biologic injection and it changed my life literally overnight. I know that for most people it can take weeks to work, but for me... it was instant. And I'm still in shock. 'I mean I know that this is not a cure and I'm still doing all I can to support my body naturally through food, movement,and rest. But this has given me something I haven't felt in a long time! 'Now it's time to rebuild, mentally, physically, emotionally. This next chapter is all about prioritising my wellbeing, becoming the happiest, healthiest version of me… and finally enjoying life again. 'Let's goo!!!' Biological injections are types of medication that use proteins to target specific parts of the immune systems suffering with inflammation. WHAT IS PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS? Psoriatic arthritis is a long-term condition that causes joint pain, swelling and stiffness. The condition causes the immune system to attack its own body, primarily the joints and skin, but also organs. Scientists believe genes and an environmental trigger, like a trauma or virus, might play a role in developing psoriatic arthritis. About a third of people with the skin condition psoriasis will get psoriatic arthritis as they get older. Symptoms include: pain, swelling and stiffness joints, swollen fingers or toes, nails can form tiny dents, crumble or separate from the nail beds, lower back pain, feeling drained of energy, eye inflammation and foot pain. Symptoms can be worse first thing in the morning and may improve with exercise. Some people may also get symptoms of psoriasis, such as dry scaly skin, at the same time. There's no cure for psoriatic arthritis. Treatment is aimed at controlling symptoms and preventing joint damage. The medicines used to treat psoriatic arthritis include: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroid injections, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and biological treatments Source: The NHS and Arthritis Foundation Just a month or so before discovering the injection, Adam shared an emotional plea to 'take my pain away' as his suffering became almost unbearable. In a caption accompanying a photo of him laying on a massage bed, the 36-year-old wrote: 'This disease really does f**k with your head, especially when you're trying to shift Some weight and get Into a routine of exercise! 'Constant battle constant set backs! Just take my pain away please!! I've suffered enough now! 'Am really trying to hold myself together but it's not easy! 'Just one of those days ... keep fighting people... on the days where we can't train ... we have to take care of ourselves x self care and recovery.' And months before that the soap star admitted he could 'barely walk' due to the debilitating nature of the disease. 'The pain is pretty unbearable at the moment,' he posted in October. 'It's as if my whole body is seizing up! The pain was bad before, but it's a lot worse now… how why.' Addressing his treatment, he said: 'Now I wish I never came off the methotrexate because I would take that pain to this every day of the week!! 'I've just started my new medication today which takes 12 weeks to take effect and even then it might not work so am not too sure what I can do to ease the pain until then? I've had my steroid injections and it literally lasted a week. 'I couldn't even get dressed this morning on my own, couldn't drive to work, I mean I can barely walk and my wrists and fingers feel like they're broken that's no exaggeration! 'I wouldn't have got out of bed today if it wasn't for work. It got better through out the day with a s**t load of painkillers! 'But wow… these last few days have been scary had a little cry to myself today it can just really get on top of you!! 'Am not saying this for a sob story or for sympathy just trying to bring awareness to this disease and what so many others are going through the good the bad the ugly … I'm lucky I have a great support system and not many do so to anyone who is going through the same thing and is alone! I see you you I feel you!! 'It's going to get better don't give up x if you know anyone who's suffering just give them a call and check in.' Adam - the brother of Love Island star Scott and fellow soap star Ryan - landed his breakthrough role as Donte Charles on BBC One's Waterloo Road in 2002, acting on the show for a further thee years. He later appeared in Emmerdale as Adam Barton, featuring on the show from 2009 to 2018 and becoming a fan-favourite. In 2016, he appeared on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, finishing in third place behind Joel Dommett and Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Celltrion announces U.S. FDA approval of additional presentation of STEQEYMA® (ustekinumab-stba), expanding dosing options for pediatric patients
Approval of 45mg/0.5mL solution in a single-dose vial for subcutaneous injection expands dosing flexibility for pediatric patients with plaque psoriasis (PsO) or psoriatic arthritis (PsA) under 60kg The FDA previously approved STEQEYMA® 45mg/0.5mL, 90mg/mL in a single-dose prefilled syringe for subcutaneous injection, and 130mg/26mL in a single-dose vial for intravenous infusion in December 2024 STEQEYMA now matches all dosage forms and strengths of its reference product, STELARA® INCHEON, South Korea, June 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Celltrion, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new presentation of STEQEYMA® (ustekinumab-stba), a biosimilar to STELARA® (ustekinumab), in a 45mg/0.5mL solution in a single-dose vial for subcutaneous injection. The additional presentation is approved for the treatment of pediatric patients aged 6 to 17 years, weighing less than 60kg, with plaque psoriasis (PsO) or psoriatic arthritis (PsA).[1] With this approval, STEQEYMA now offers all dosage forms and strengths of its reference product, providing flexibility to meet physicians' clinical needs while supporting treatment continuity for patients. In December 2024, the FDA approved STEQEYMA in 45mg/0.5mL and 90mg/mL solutions in a single-dose prefilled syringe for subcutaneous injection, and 130mg/26mL in a single-dose vial for intravenous infusion in adult and pediatric patients 6 years and older with plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, as well as adult patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. "Managing inflammatory diseases in pediatric patients can be particularly complex," said Hetal Patel, PharmD MBA, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Celltrion USA. "The new dosage form and strength of STEQEYMA allow us to better meet the specific needs of young patients, giving physicians a valuable treatment option with flexibility, supported by a well-established safety and efficacy profile." "We are proud to offer a new presentation of STEQEYMA that aligns with the indications of the reference product," said Thomas Nusbickel, Chief Commercial Officer at Celltrion USA. "This approval reinforces our commitment to broadening access for all patient populations, including children aged 6 years and older living with chronic inflammatory conditions. As a company with a strong legacy in immunology, we are dedicated to ensuring broader access and flexibility in care for patients of all ages." The FDA approval of STEQEYMA was based on the totality of evidence, including the results from a phase III study in adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, in which the primary endpoint was the rate of change in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) for skin symptoms. The clinical results demonstrated that STEQEYMA and its reference product, ustekinumab, are highly similar, and have no clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety and efficacy.[2],[3] The FDA has granted STEQEYMA full interchangeability with STELARA across all indications of STELARA, following the expiration of exclusivity for the first interchangeable biosimilar on April 30, 2025. Notes to Editors: About STEQEYMA® (ustekinumab-stba) STEQEYMA®, formerly known as CT-P43, is a human IL-12 and -23 antagonist indicated for multiple immune-mediated diseases. It encompasses all indications approved for the STELARA® reference product, including psoriasis (PsO), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) in adults, and PsO and PsA in pediatric patients 6 years of age and older. STEQEYMA is available in both subcutaneous and intravenous formulations. The subcutaneous injection comes in 45mg/0.5 mL or 90mg/1 mL solution in a single-dose, prefilled syringe and 45mg/0.5mL solution in a single-dose vial. The intravenous infusion is provided as a 130mg/26 mL (5mg/mL) solution in a single-dose vial. INDICATIONS STEQEYMA® (ustekinumab-stba) is indicated for the treatment of: Plaque Psoriasis (PsO) in adults and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for phototherapy or systemic therapy. Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) in adults and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older with active psoriatic arthritis. Crohn's Disease (CD) in adult patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease. Ulcerative Colitis (UC) in adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION STEQEYMA is contraindicated in patients with clinically significant hypersensitivity to ustekinumab products or to any of the excipients in STEQEYMA Serious infections have occurred. Avoid starting STEQEYMA during any clinically important active infection. If a serious or clinically significant infection develop, discontinue STEQEYMA until the infection resolves. Serious infections from mycobacteria, salmonella, and BCG vaccinations have been reported in patients genetically deficient in IL-12/IL-23. Consider diagnostic tests for these infections as dictated by clinical circumstances. Evaluate patients for TB prior to starting STEQEYMA. Initiate treatment of latent TB before administering STEQEYMA. Ustekinumab products may increase risk of malignancy. The safety of ustekinumab products in patients with a history of or a known malignancy has not been evaluated. Monitor all patients receiving STEQEYMA for signs of malignancies. If an anaphylactic or other clinically significant hypersensitivity reaction occurs, institute appropriate therapy and discontinue STEQEYMA. If Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES) is suspected, treat promptly, and discontinue STEQEYMA. Avoid use of live vaccines in patients during treatment with STEQEYMA. Non-live vaccinations received during STEQEYMA treatment may not elicit enough immune response to prevent disease. If diagnosis of noninfectious pneumonia is confirmed, discontinue STEQEYMA and institute appropriate treatment. The most common adverse reactions (≥3%) reported in patients receiving ustekinumab were: Psoriasis: nasopharyngitis, upper respiratory tract infection, headache, and fatigue. CD: vomiting, nasopharyngitis, injection site erythema, vulvovaginal candidiasis/mycotic infection, bronchitis, pruritus, urinary tract infection, and sinusitis. UC: nasopharyngitis, headache, abdominal pain, influenza, fever, diarrhea, sinusitis, fatigue, and nausea. For more information, see Full Prescribing Information. About Celltrion, is a leading biopharmaceutical company that specializes in researching, developing, manufacturing, marketing and sales of innovative therapeutics that improve people's lives worldwide. Celltrion is a pioneer in the biosimilar space, having launched the world's first monoclonal antibody biosimilar. Our global pharmaceutical portfolio addresses a range of therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology, hematology, ophthalmology and endocrinology. Beyond biosimilar products, we are committed to advancing our pipeline with novel drugs to push the boundaries of scientific innovation and deliver quality medicines. For more information, please visit our website and stay updated with our latest news and events on our social media: LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and Facebook. About Celltrion USACelltrion USA is Celltrion's U.S. subsidiary established in 2018. Headquartered in New Jersey, Celltrion USA is committed to expanding access to innovative biologics to improve care for U.S. patients. Celltrion's FDA-approved biosimilar products in immunology, oncology, hematology, and endocrinology include: INFLECTRA® (infliximab-dyyb), TRUXIMA® (rituximab-abbs), HERZUMA® (trastuzumab-pkrb), VEGZELMA® (bevacizumab-adcd), YUFLYMA®(adalimumab-aaty), AVTOZMA® (tocilizumab-anho), STEQEYMA® (ustekinumab-stba), STOBOCLO® (denosumab-bmwo), OSENVELT® (denosumab-bmwo) and OMLYCLO® (omalizumab-igec), as well as the novel biologic ZYMFENTRA® (infliximab-dyyb). Celltrion USA will continue to leverage Celltrion's unique heritage in biotechnology, supply chain excellence and best-in-class sales capabilities to improve access to high-quality biopharmaceuticals for U.S. patients. For more information, please visit and stay updated with our latest news and events on our social media: LinkedIn. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT Certain information set forth in this press release contains statements related to our future business and financial performance and future events or developments involving Celltrion, Inc. and its subsidiaries that may constitute forward-looking statements under pertinent securities laws. This press release contains forward looking statements. These statements may be also identified by words such as "prepares", "hopes to", "upcoming", "plans to", "aims to", "to be launched", "is preparing", "once gained", "could", "with the aim of", "may", "once identified", "will", "working towards", "is due", "become available", "has potential to", "anticipate" the negative of these words or such other variations thereon or comparable terminology. In addition, our representatives may make oral forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of Celltrion, Inc. and its subsidiaries' management, of which many are beyond its control. Forward-looking statements are provided to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand management's beliefs and opinions in respect of the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor in evaluating an investment. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties associated with the company's business, including the risk factors disclosed in its Annual Report and/or Quarterly Reports, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such statements. Celltrion, Inc. and its subsidiaries undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. Trademarks STELARA® is a registered trademark of Johnson & is a registered trademark of Celltrion, Inc., used under license. References [1] STEQEYMA U.S. prescribing information (2025) [2] Papp KA et al., Efficacy and Safety of Candidate Biosimilar CT-P43 Versus Originator Ustekinumab in Moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis: 28-Week Results of a Randomised, Active-Controlled, Double-Blind, Phase III study. BioDrugs. 2023; Online ahead of print. Available at: [Last accessed June 2025] [3] Papp K et al., Efficacy and Safety after Switch from Reference Ustekinumab to Ustekinumab Biosimilar (CT-P43) in comparison with the Maintenance Group (CTP43 or Reference Ustekinumab) in Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis: 1-Year Result. [EADV 2023, Abstract #4035]. Available at: [Last accessed June 2025] For further information please contact:Andria Arenaaarena@ 516-578-0057 View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Celltrion
