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1 Introduction
The World Congress of Dermatology is held every 4 years. This year's congress was held in Singapore, with the theme of 'Dermatology Beyond Borders,' and attracted over 12,000 registrants from 150 countries. There were over 250 educational sessions, and over 5000 abstracts. Here, I report on a few of the most interesting research papers presented at the congress.
2 JNJ-77242113, a First-in-Class, Oral, Interleukin-23 Receptor Peptide Antagonist for Psoriasis
Robert Bissonnette from Innovaderm Research, Montreal, QC, Canada presented the phase II results for this interesting new oral agent for psoriasis [1]. JNJ 77242113, also known as PN 235, is a second-generation oral peptide that binds to the interleukin-23 receptor being developed by Janssen Biotech.
The study reported was FRONTIER 1 (NCT05223868), a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging, phase II study in adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Doses included 25 mg daily, 50 mg daily, 25 mg twice daily, 100 mg daily, and 100 mg twice daily, for a duration of 16 weeks.
The primary endpoint (> 75% improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI-75] at week 16) was met by 37.2%, 58.1%, 51.2%, 65.1%, and 78.6% of patients, respectively, versus 9.3% for placebo, showing a dose response to treatment. Response rates for PASI-90 were: 25.6%, 51.2%, 26.8%, 46.5%, and 59.5%, respectively, versus 2.3% for placebo (nominal p < 0.002 for all comparisons). Adverse event rates were similar between treatment and placebo recipients and there were no apparent dose-dependent trends. A phase IIb, multicenter, long-term extension study (FRONTIER 2; NCT05364554) is ongoing, with a phase III study being planned.
3Rocatinlimab, an Anti-OX40 Monoclonal Antibody for Atopic Dermatitis
Rocatinlimab (formerly KHK 4083) is an immunomodulating anti-OX40 monoclonal antibody being developed by Kyowa Kirin and Amgen. The phase IIb trial (NCT03703102) primary endpoint data were published in the Lancet in January 2023 [2]. At the World Congress, Emma Guttman-Yassky (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA) presented results for the other endpoints of Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) and the Dermatology Life Quality Index from this trial [3]. Patients received one of four dosages (150/600 mg every 4 weeks [q4w] or 300/600 mg every 2 weeks [q2w]) of subcutaneous rocatinlimab for 36 weeks, or placebo for 18 weeks followed by rocatinlimab...