Psoriasis patients at EASE with etanercept

Etanercept [Enbrel] produced high response rates when used either continuously or intermittently in a phase III study involving more than 2500 patients with psoriasis. Data from the 24-week EASE trial, presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) [San Francisco, California, US; March 2006], showed that patients who received continuous therapy with etanercept achieved significantly greater improvements, compared with patients who received intermittent therapy. A second phase III study in more than 600 patients with psoriasis showed for the first time that extended continuous exposure to etanercept 50mg twice weekly for 96 weeks provided sustained PASI response rates. Importantly, long-term etanercept was associated with exposure-adjusted rates of adverse events and infections similar to placebo.