Deuvacratinib Found to Concurrently Improve Psoriasis and Arthritis

New research suggests the deuvacratinib may treat both dermatologic and joint symptoms in people with psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA).1

“Screening for joint pain and the impact of musculoskeletal symptoms may aid in the earlier identification and treatment of patients at higher risk for developing psoriatic arthritis. It is, therefore, essential that patients enrolled in psoriasis studies are screened and/or measured for the presence of joint symptoms,” lead investigator Joseph F. Merola, MD, MMSc, Department of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatic Diseases, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, and colleagues wrote.1 “…more research is needed to determine which treatments for psoriasis relieve both dermatologic and joint symptoms.”

The new findings are from a pooled analysis of the POETYK PSO-1 and PSO-2 trials and included 185 patients who had positive results on the Psoriatic Arthritis Screening and Evaluation (PASE) questionnaire. Around half of these patients (53.5%; n = 99) were male, and most (96.8%; n = 179) were White with a mean age of 48.3 years. Most (n = 88) received deucravacitinib, 41 received placebo, and 56 received apremilast.1

The investigators found that patients treated with deucravacitinib had greater improvements in joint pain visual analogue scale (VAS; − 15.2 vs. − 3.2; P = .026) and joint disease VAS from baseline compared to those treated with placebo (− 17.4 vs. − 3.8; P = .002) at week 16. Deucravacitinib also yielded greater improvements from baseline than apremilast in both for joint pain VAS (− 22.8 vs. − 8.6) and joint disease VAS (− 19.6 vs. − 8.8; P = .018) score at week 24.1

The proportion of deucravacitinib-treated patients achieving 30%, 50%, and 70% improvements in joint pain and musculoskeletal symptoms and impact VAS scores was statistically significant at all time points compared to those treated with placebo. Compared to apremilast, these proportions were statistically significantly greater at week 24 for 30% (43.8% vs 25.5%; P = .044) and 70% improvements (24.7% vs 3.9%; P = .002).1

“In the POETYK PSO-1 and PSO-2 trials, patients who screened positively on the PASE questionnaire reported greater improvements in the impact of joint pain and musculoskeletal symptoms vs. placebo and vs. apremilast at week 16. These improvements with deucravacitinib were sustained or further improved through 52 weeks of treatment. Findings from this pooled analysis suggest that deucravacitinib may be used to effectively treat both dermatologic and joint symptoms in patients with psoriasis and probable arthritis,” Merola and colleagues concluded.1

Other recent research on decravacitinib for patients with psoriasis found that it was effective for patients over 52 weeks regardless of previous treatment with apremilast or biologics, although there may be differences in response between treatment-experienced and treatment-naive subgroups.2

By the 52-week mark, rates of PASI 100 and absolute PASI ≤1 attainment among subjects were 30.8% and 61.5%, respectively, and slightly higher among those with previous apremilast use compared to those who had not used apremilast (20.5% and 46.2%, respectively). Additionally, it was noted that biologic-naive individuals saw greater reductions in their PASI and DLQI scores (91.6% and 82.8%, respectively), compared to rates among those experienced with biologics (57.6% and 63.6%, respectively).2

The percentage of those who were biologic-naive achieving PASI 75, PASI 100, and absolute PASI ≤1 at Week 52 were 84.4%, 24.4%, and 53.3%, respectively. These percentages were also higher than the percentages of biologic-experienced participants (57.1%, 14.3%, and 28.6%, respectively).2

REFERENCES

1. Merola JF, Mease PJ, Armstrong AW, et al. Deucravacitinib in Patients with Plaque Psoriasis Who Screened Positive for Psoriatic Arthritis: Improvements in Joint Pain and the Impact of Musculoskeletal Symptoms. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb) (2025). Doi: 10.1007/s13555-025-01428-9

2. Hagino T, Saeki H, Fujimoto E, Kanda N. Long-term real-world effectiveness of deucravacitinib in psoriasis: A 52-week prospective study stratified by prior apremilast or biologic therapy. J Dermatol. 2025; 00: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/1346-8138.17665.