Does Cosentyx Help Psoriatic Arthritis

The Way Cosentyx Works

Cosentyx is classified as a monoclonal antibody. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins that work through your immune system, which is your bodys defense against infection.

Your immune system makes special types of proteins that can cause inflammation. Interleukin 17A is one of these proteins. Its been found to contribute to both plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. IL-17A can make symptoms of psoriasis worse. Researchers have found that people with plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis have higher blood levels of IL-17A than people without these conditions.

The way Cosentyx works is to bind to IL-17A and prevent it from working. By preventing IL-17A from acting, Cosentyx helps decrease inflammation in your body. Inflammation leads to swelling and damage, which worsens plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Because Cosentyx can prevent swelling and damage from occurring, the drug should help ease your symptoms.

How Should I Use Cosentyx

Use Cosentyx exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Follow all directions on your prescription label and read all medication guides or instruction sheets. Your doctor may occasionally change your dose.

Cosentyx is injected under the skin.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you dont understand how to use an injection.

Prepare an injection only when you are ready to give it. You may need to use 2 injections to get your total dose.

Cosentyx should be clear or light-yellow. Call your pharmacist if the liquid Cosentyx in your vial, pen, or syringe looks cloudy, has changed colors, or has particles in it.

Your healthcare provider will show you where to inject Cosentyx. Do not inject into the same place two times in a row. Avoid injecting into skin that is hard, red, bruised, swollen, tender, or affected by psoriasis. Do not inject within 2 inches of your navel .

You may get infections more easily, even serious infections. You will need frequent medical tests.

Do not reuse a needle or syringe. Place them in a puncture-proof sharps container and dispose of it following state or local laws. Keep out of the reach of children and pets.

Store Cosentyx in the original container in a refrigerator. Protect from light and do not shake or freeze.

Take the injection pen out of the refrigerator and let it reach room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before using. Give the injection within 1 hour after removing the medicine from a refrigerator.

Found This Study Interesting Get Involved

If you are diagnosed with arthritis or another musculoskeletal condition, we encourage you to participate in future studies by joining CreakyJoints patient research registry, ArthritisPower. ArthritisPower is the first-ever patient-led, patient-centered research registry for joint, bone, and inflammatory skin conditions. Learn more and sign up here.

Abbvie Inc., which manufactures adalimumab , and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures secukinumab , are corporate sponsors of the Global Healthy Living Foundation.

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Place Of Secukinumab In The Management Of Psoriatic Arthritis

The main goals in the treatment of PsA are to control symptoms, prevent structural damage, optimize physical function and improve HR-QOL . The choice of treatment is dependent on the clinical presentation of the disease. Consideration should be given to each musculoskeletal manifestation, as well as to non-musculoskeletal manifestations and comorbidities . Treatment guidelines from the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and PsA and EULAR recommend a csDMARD as first-line therapy for peripheral arthritis, followed by a bDMARD if treatment targets are not achieved. In patients with predominantly axial disease, EULAR guidelines recommend the use of an IL-17i over a TNFi when there is relevant skin involvement . Joint ACR and National Psoriasis Foundation guidelines conditionally recommend a TNFi over an oral small molecule for treatment-naïve PsA, with IL-12/23i and IL-17i conditionally recommended after TNFi or in patients with contraindications to TNFi .

PsA is a chronic and multifaceted disease which has a significant impact on HR-QOL in terms of physical dysfunction, pain, fatigue, work disability and emotional/social impairment . In clinical trials, secukinumab was associated with clinically meaningful improvements in patient-reported measures of physical function and HR-QOL compared with placebo, with these improvements sustained over the longer term .

Fertility Pregnancy And Breastfeeding

Secukinumab currently isnt recommended if youre pregnant.

Because secukinumab is a relatively new drug, we dont yet know how it might affect pregnancy or an unborn baby. Tell your rheumatology team immediately if you become pregnant whilst taking secukinumab.

If youre a woman of childbearing age, its a good idea to use contraception while taking secukinumab and for five months after you finish your treatment.

Some guidelines say that secukinumab is safe to use by men who want to father a child. But research is in the early stages. If you are worried or want to know more, talk to your healthcare team.

We dont yet know whether secukinumab can pass into breastmilk, so current advice is not to breastfeed while taking this drug.

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Effects On Other Treatments

You may be taking other drugs as well as secukinumab. Check with your doctor before starting any new medicines. Remember to mention youre on secukinumab if youre treated by anyone other than your usual rheumatology team.

Dont use complementary treatments, such as herbal remedies, without discussing it first with your doctor or pharmacist. Some of them could react with secukinumab.

How Long Does Cosentyx Take To Work For Ankylosing Spondylitis

• Ankylosing Spondylitis response to medicines is measured by Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society response criteria. This looks at four different areas of assessment of AS. An ASA20 is an improvement of at least 20%, plus an absolute improvement of 1 unit of three domains without a worsening of the other domain. An ASAS40 is an improvement of at least 40%.
• When on Cosentyx for ankylosing spondylitis the time it takes to get 50% of the patients to have an ASAS20 response is approximately 3 weeks. The ASA40 response at 3 weeks is over 20% and the number of patients in this group continues to increase up until 8 weeks.
• Ankylosing spondylitis is a disease that causes health to worsen over time, if it is not treated. Success of ankylosing spondylitis treatment can also be measured by whether there is a reduction or halt of disease progression. In the MEASURE 1 study, x rays showed that 79% of patients on long term Cosentyx 150 mg therapy had no definite disease progression.

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Financial And Insurance Assistance

If you need financial support to pay for Cosentyx, or if you need help understanding your insurance coverage, help is available.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, the manufacturer of Cosentyx, offers a program called Cosentyx Connect Personal Support. This program may help lower the cost of your medication. For more information and to find out if youre eligible for support, visit the program website.

Cosentyx is available only as a brand-name medication. It contains the active drug secukinumab.

Cosentyx isnt currently available in biosimilar form.

A biosimilar is a medication thats similar to a brand-name drug. A generic medication, on the other hand, is an exact copy of a brand-name drug.

Biosimilars are based on biologic medications, which are made from parts of living organisms. Generics are based on regular medications, which are made from chemicals. Biosimilars and generics also usually cost less than brand-name drugs.

Use In Pregnancy And When Breastfeeding

• The effects of secukinumab during pregnancy have not been well studied, so it is not clear if it causes birth defects. Treatment of pregnant women with secukinumab may affect the immunity of their baby.
• If you are pregnant or are considering having a child you should discuss this with your doctor before beginning this medication.
• If you have been treated with secukinumab during your pregnancy, you should check with your doctor before vaccinations are given to your baby. Some vaccines cannot be given to the newborn baby if you were treated with secukinumab while you were pregnant.
• It is not known whether secukinumab is excreted in the breastmilk of lactating women. Women who are breastfeeding should talk to their doctor about whether or not to use secukinumab.

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Can I Use Cosentyx To Treat Eczema

No, Cosentyx isnt currently used to treat eczema.

However, this might change in the future. Thats because the drug was recently studied for eczema. But the results of this study havent been released yet.

If you have eczema, talk with your doctor about treatment options that might work for you.

• certolizumab pegol

If youre interested in using a drug other than Cosentyx to treat your condition, talk with your doctor.

You may wonder how Cosentyx and Taltz compare. These medications are each given as an injection under the skin.

Taltz is used for some of the same conditions as Cosentyx.

For example, both drugs treat plaque psoriasis in certain adults. And Cosentyx is used for plaque psoriasis in some children. Taltz and Cosentyx also each treat psoriatic arthritis in adults.

Cosentyx is used for a few other conditions too. To learn more, see the What is Cosentyx used for? section above.

If youd like to read a detailed comparison of Cosentyx and Taltz, see this article. Also, talk with your doctor about which drug is right for your condition.

Cosentyx And Other Medications And Vaccines

Below are vaccines that shouldnt be taken during Cosentyx treatment. This article does not contain all the substances that may interact with Cosentyx.

Before taking Cosentyx, talk with your doctor and pharmacist. Tell them about all prescription, over-the-counter, and other drugs you take. Also tell them about any vitamins, herbs, and supplements you use. Sharing this information can help you avoid potential interactions.

If you have questions about possible interactions that may affect you, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Cosentyx and vaccines

You shouldnt get any live vaccines while taking Cosentyx. These vaccines contain a weakened form of a bacteria or virus.

If you have a healthy immune system, live vaccines shouldnt make you sick. However, Cosentyx may weaken your immune system. So your body may not be able to fight the bacteria or virus in the vaccine as your body normally would.

Examples of live vaccines that should be avoided while taking Cosentyx include:

• measles, mumps, rubella
• typhoid oral form

Before you start to take Cosentyx, ask your doctor if you need to get any vaccines.

Antibiotics

Cosentyx doesnt interact with any antibiotics . But while youre taking Cosentyx, the risk of developing an infection increases. This is because Cosentyx may weaken your immune system.

In clinical trials, over 12 weeks, about 29% of people who took Cosentyx for plaque psoriasis got an infection. This was compared to only about 19% of people who took a placebo .

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What Are The Side Effects Of Cosentyx

The most common side effects reported include upper respiratory tract infections, headache, cold sores, nausea, fatigue and diarrhoea. Many side effects of Cosentyx are mild and do not cause most people to stop taking it.

Although side effects are possible with this, and any treatment, it is important to remember that people taking Cosentyx have regular blood tests to check for health issues. If a serious infection occurs a doctor will most likely stop Cosentyx. If you are worried about the side effects of Cosentyx, you should discuss these with your doctor or specialist nurse.

How Long Does Cosentyx Take To Work For Skin Psoriasis

• When taking Cosentyx for skin psoriasis the time it takes to get a 50% skin clearance is 3 weeks .
• To measure the severity of psoriasis, a score is used called the PASI . This looks at how severe the skin lesions are and also the area of the body that is affected. This is what they use in studies to measure how well skin psoriasis medicines work. In studies they look for a reduction in PASI score eg a PASI 25 would be a reduction in severity of psoriasis by 25%.

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What Is Cosentyx Used For

Cosentyx is used in adults to treat:

• Moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: A chronic autoimmune disease causing patches of thick, red, scaly skin
• Psoriatic arthritis: Arthritis affecting some people with psoriasis
• Ankylosing spondylitis: An inflammatory disease that causes vertebrae to fuse, leading to pain, swelling, and damage
• Active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis: A chronic condition causing inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joint linking the spine and pelvis that is not visible in X-rays

Psoriatic Arthritis Market Opportunity

According to Novartiss estimates about the US biologics market in 2016, there were ~1.6 million patients with psoriatic arthritis in the US. Of these, around 1.0 million patients were diagnosed, which is ~63.0% of the total patient population.

Only 535,000 patients, or 54% of the diagnosed psoriasis patients, were treated with systemic therapy. Of these, around 100,000 were prescribed biologic therapies such as tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, anti-IL12/23 therapies, and anti-IL17A therapies. Johnson & Johnsons Simponi is another of the biologics approved in the psoriatic arthritis indication.

According to Novartiss estimates about the EU5 biologics market in 2016, there were around 1.5 million patients with psoriatic arthritis in these countries. Of these, ~950,000 patients were diagnosed, which comprises ~63.0% of the total patient population.

Only 525,000 patients were eligible for treatment with biologics. Of these, around 97,000, or 18% of the eligible patients, are prescribed biologic therapies. The low penetration of biologics in the psoriatic arthritis segment in the US and the EU5 countries highlights the scope of growth opportunity available for Cosentyx in this indication.

In the next article, well discuss the growth prospects for Cosentyx in ankylosing spondylitis indication.

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The Cosentyx Sensoready Pen Is Designed For Comfortable Use:

Concealed needle

You can self-inject safely and confidently

Viewing window

The green indicator assures you that your injection has been completely delivered

Easy, no-button activation

Automatic 2-click technology allows you to hear when your dose starts and finishes

Ergonomic shape

Designed to be easy to hold and easy to use

Learn more about how to use the Sensoready Pen and about COSENTYX in the prefilled syringe.

Drug Forms And Strengths

Cosentyx is given as an injection under your skin .

The drug is available in two strengths: 150 milligrams per milliliter and 75 mg/0.5 mL. Cosentyx comes in three forms:

• liquid solution in a single-use Sensoready pen
• liquid solution in a single-use prefilled syringe
• powder in a single-use vial*

At first, your healthcare professional will give you the injection. Once they train you, youll be able to give yourself injections at home with the Sensoready pen or prefilled syringe. One form may be easier for you to use than another. Ask your doctor which form of Cosentyx is best for you.

* Only a healthcare professional can give you Cosentyx in this form. Theyll mix the powder with a solution and give you the injection.

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How Should Humira Be Taken

Humira is given by an injection under the skin. Your doctor will tell you how often to take an injection of Humira. This is based on your condition to be treated. Do not inject Humira more often than you were prescribed.

Do not try to inject Humira yourself until you have been shown the right way to give the injections. If your doctor decides that you or a caregiver may be able to give your injections of Humira at home, you should receive training on the right way to prepare and inject Humira.

Do not miss any doses of Humira unless your doctor says it is okay. If you forget to take Humira, inject a dose as soon as you remember. Then, take your next dose at your regular scheduled time. This will put you back on schedule.

In case you are not sure when to inject Humira, call your doctor or pharmacist.

If you take more Humira than you were told to take, call your doctor.

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Cosentyx Stops Or Lessens Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms Studies Show

A FUTURE 5 trial and MAXIMIZE trial demonstrate that Cosentyx frequently stops radiographic progression and lessens axial manifestations, respectively.

Secukinumab can stop radiographic progression of psoriatic arthritis in almost 90% of patients and lessen axial manifestations, according to a new pair of studies.

PsA affects an estimated 50 million people worldwide alongside other inflammatory diseases that are in the same family. It can start at any age, but usually presents itself between ages 30-50, approximately a decade after psoriasis begins. Currently, while symptoms of inflammation in the joints can be treated, there is no cure.

Cosentyx is currently the only fully-human biologic that directly inhibits interleukin-17A , a key cytokine in PsA development and inflammation. It was first recommended for approval for treating plaque psoriasis by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014, then officially approved along those lines in 2015.

In 2016, it was also approved for use in ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis. Having undergone a trio of 5-year phase 3 extension studies, Cosentyx has since treated over 200,000 patients globally since its launch.

Cosentyx inhibited radiographic progression for the majority of patients in the FUTURE 5 trial: 89.5% at 300 mg, 82.3% at 150 mg, and 81.1% at 150mg with no loading dose. Radiographic damage is characterized by joint inflammation, erosion, and joint space narrowing, especially in hands and feet.

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Who Can Take Secukinumab

There are guidelines about when secukinumab can be used. It varies depending on which condition you have.

Secukinumab wont be started if:

• your condition isnt active
• you havent tried other treatments for your condition first
• you have an infection.

Before you’re given secukinumab, doctors sometimes use a scoring system to assess how many of your joints are painful or swollen, and how it makes you feel. This helps them work out how active your arthritis is.

You’ll also need blood tests and a chest x-ray before treatment to see whether secukinumab is right for you.

Your doctor may also decide not to prescribe secukinumab if:

• you have had repeated or serious infections in the past
• you have an inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohns disease or ulcerative colitis
• youre pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding
• youre having treatment with ultraviolet light for psoriasis, also known as phototherapy.

If secukinumab isnt suitable, your doctor will discuss other treatment options with you.

Your doctor will check to see if youve had tuberculosis . Even if you dont have symptoms, the bacteria that causes TB may still be present in your body. So, you may need treatment for this before starting secukinumab.

Your doctor might also check if youve had hepatitis before. If you have, you may be offered a treatment to reduce the risk of the hepatitis restarting.