Boehringer-Ingelheim’s intravenous Spevigo (spesolimab) is a therapy specifically indicated to treat active Generalized Pustular Psoriasis (GPP) flares. Nearly 90% of dermatologists with prior use reported spesolimab as very effective, according to findings from REACH Market Research.

NEWTON, Ma. , May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Before the approval of Spevigo, the treatment landscape for GPP consisted solely of off-label therapies approved for psoriasis, including:

  • Topical therapies
  • Cyclosporine
  • Methotrexate
  • Biologics used to treat psoriasis (e.g., anti-TNF-α, IL-1, IL-17, etc.)

The approval of Spevigo for active GPP flares marks a major shift in the treatment of GPP, but unmet needs remain for long-term maintenance therapies for flare prevention. These unmet needs could be short-lived, however, as Boehringer-Ingelheim (BI) recently announced that their subcutaneous formulation of spesolimab met its primary and secondary endpoints in a Phase 2 clinical trial (Effisayil-2) exploring efficacy for GPP flare prevention. Subcutaneous spesolimab could receive approval and enter the market as soon as 2024. Nearly 80% of surveyed dermatologist indicated that they would be very likely to prescribe a subcutaneous spesolimab if it was approved as a maintenance therapy, according to REACH’s MarketVue® assessment.

To access REACH’s MarketVue® Report on GPP, visit https://reachmr.com or contact us at info@reachmr.com.

Spesolimab potential approval as an acute and maintenance therapy would avoid many of the challenges associated with prescribing off-label therapies to treat GPP and could offer dermatologists the opportunity to establish a continuity of care of both flare control and subsequent long-term flare prevention utilizing the same therapy.

Dermatologist, U.S.: “An ideal drug would be something that’s safe, gets acute flare under control quickly, and something that gives a sustained response that we can administer outpatient to hopefully keep their disease under control on a day-to-day basis, so minimal to little skin involvement and also prevention of the acute flares.”

Beyond spesolimab, there remains little in the pipeline for GPP. Like BI, AnaptysBio has an IL-36 inhibitor, imsidolimab, in clinical trials for both flare control and prevention, but will seek to outlicense the drug before approval. This development could potentially delay imsidolimab’s entry to market, but even with approvals for both spesolimab and imsidolimab, some unmet needs may be left unaddressed for those that do not respond well to IL-36 inhibitors.

About MarketVue®

MarketVue® reports are a rare disease focused, fresh alternative to traditionally long and outdated market research reports. MarketVue® reports cover rare disease epidemiology and key market dynamics based on research from key opinion leader interviews, physician surveys, and secondary data.