633 Deucravacitinib, an oral, selective, allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor: Improvement in scalp psoriasis in the phase 3 POETYK PSO-3 trial in Asian patients

Deucravacitinib, an oral, selective, allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor, is approved in the US, Japan, and other countries for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis based on results from the global phase 3 POETYK PSO-1 and PSO-2 trials. The 52-week, phase 3, double-blind POETYK PSO-3 trial (NCT04167462) in such patients from mainland China, Taiwan, and South Korea showed efficacy with deucravacitinib (n=106) vs placebo (n=51) based on PASI 75 and sPGA 0/1 achievement at Week 16. The current analysis evaluated the efficacy of deucravacitinib in PSO-3 patients with moderate to severe scalp psoriasis involvement (scalp-specific PGA [ss-PGA] ≥3) at baseline. Significantly more patients receiving deucravacitinib vs placebo achieved ss-PGA 0/1 (clear/almost clear; 62.9% vs 9.8%, respectively;P<0.0001) and ≥90% improvement from baseline in Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index (PSSI 90; 51.4% vs 5.9%; P<0.0001) at Week 16. Improvements occurred regardless of body weight, BMI, or type/number of prior antipsoriatic therapies. Response rates for ss-PGA and PSSI were significantly greater with deucravacitinib vs placebo as early as Week 2 (P<0.01) and were maintained through Week 52 in patients who received continuous deucravacitinib from baseline (ss-PGA 0/1, 53.3%; PSSI 90, 52.4%). Response rates increased through Week 52 (ss-PGA 0/1, 49.0%; PSSI 90, 45.1%) in patients who crossed over from placebo to deucravacitinib at Week 16. These results demonstrate that deucravacitinib improves scalp-specific psoriasis involvement in Asian patients.