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Highlighting Recent Findings on Icotrokinra, Other Psoriasis Developments, with Mark Lebwohl, MD
During this EADV interview, Lebwohl speaks to some of the most recent developments in the psoriasis research space.
A variety of new findings on psoriasis drugs were highlighted during the 2025 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress in Paris, including new data on icotrokinra, Johnson & Johnson’s first-in-class investigational targeted oral interleukin (IL)-23 inhibitor.1,2
To discuss developments in psoriasis care, as well as findings presented at EADV on the treatment of this inflammatory skin disease, the HCPLive team interviewed Mark Lebwohl, MD, on this topic. Lebwohl, the dean for Clinical Therapeutics and Chairman Emeritus of the Kimberly and Eric J. Waldman Department of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine, was asked about what he feels have been the biggest changes in psoriasis care in the past 5 years.
“There have been many shifts in psoriasis care,” Lebwohl said. “We started out the last 5 years with a lot of biologics already on the market. There has been the introduction of newer ones, specifically bimekizumab, which is highly effective, [and it was] quite a breakthrough. One of the things, which started first out of my department actually, is when oral medications became available. It really made it easy to treat those patients who didn't want to go on injectable medications. But in addition, they had a number of other advantages.”
Lebwohl noted that if patients have difficulty responding to a single drug, combination therapy can be utilized. He then highlighted that the introduction of deucravacitinib, when added to biologics, enabled clinicians to treat many of those who did not have a strong enough response to biologic options.
“In addition, as monotherapy, deucravacitinib was very helpful, particularly in patients who did not want to go on systemic therapies,” Lebwohl explained. “One of the leading treatments we have, apremilast, is widely used, but significantly less effective than deucravacitinib. And that was shown in The Lancet papers on the pivotal trials where the 2 are compared. Having a strong oral medication with biologic-like efficacy was a breakthrough for us.”
Lebwohl was also asked about icotrokinra and its recent data released during EADV.1
“Icotrokinra, from its pivotal trial data, looks like it will be one of the most effective treatments we have,” he explained. “It's a once-a-day drug, again, given orally, so it avoids injections. And I think it'll be a breakthrough. It's an exciting treatment for us. We now have a growing armamentarium of oral therapies with biologic-like efficacy, which is a breakthrough.”
The quotes contained in this interview were edited for the purposes of clarity.
Lebwohl has disclosed being an employee of Mount Sinai and receiving research funds from AbbVie, Arcutis, Avotres, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cara therapeutics, Clexio, Dermavant Sciences, Eli Lilly, Incyte, Inozyme, Janssen, Pfizer, Sanofi-Regeneron, and UCB; and serving as a consultant for Almirall, AltruBio Inc., Apogee, Arcutis, Inc, AstraZeneca, Atomwise, Avotres Therapeutics, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Castle Biosciences, Celltrion, CorEvitas, Dermavant Sciences, Dermsquared, Evommune Inc, Facilitation of International Dermatology Education, Forte Biosciences, Galderma, Genentech, Incyte, LEO Pharma, Meiji Seika Pharma, Mindera, Pfizer, Sanofi-Regeneron, Seanergy, Strata, Takeda, Trevi, and Verrica.
References
Johnson & Johnson. Icotrokinra shows superiority to deucravacitinib in first reported head-to-head trials reinforcing promise of novel targeted oral peptide for treatment of plaque psoriasis. JNJ.com. Published September 17, 2025. Accessed September 30, 2025. https://www.jnj.com/media-center/press-releases/icotrokinra-shows-superiority-to-deucravacitinib-in-first-reported-head-to-head-trials-reinforcing-promise-of-novel-targeted-oral-peptide-for-treatment-of-plaque-psoriasis.
Bissonnette R. Icotrokinra, a Targeted Oral Peptide That Selectively Blocks the Interleukin-23–Receptor, for the Treatment of Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis. Presented at the 2025 American Academy of Dermatology (ADA) Annual Meeting. Orlando, FL. March 07-11, 2025.
