New treatment for psoriasis that has been recently approved is being available to Israeli patients

New treatment for psoriasis that has been recently approved is being available to Israeli patients. The treatment that utilizes a specific mechanism against the disease has demonstrated significant therapeutic success, even in severe cases. It is now available to patients of all HMOs.

SKYRIZI™ - A new treatment for psoriasis that has been recently approved is now being available to treat Israeli psoriasis patients and it has demonstrated therapeutic success, even in severe cases. The treatment has been studied for several years in extensive clinical trials, and currently there are already thousands of patients around the world that are reporting significant improvement in quality of life and in coping with the disease. 

Psoriasis is a chronic, multi-systemic skin disease that affects additional body systems and is linked to a variety of symptoms, some of which can significantly affect the patients' health. The disease and its accompanying inflammatory process are expressed externally in lesions that appear on the skin in various body parts. This effects especially patients with moderate to severe cases, and it is accompanied by pain and constant itching when it involves such sensitive areas as the face, hands or genitals. Patients suffering from advanced psoriasis tend to be depressed and overweight and to suffer from reduced self-confidence and from social withdrawal. They also have an increased risk of getting more serious diseases such as diabetes, Crohn's disease, hypertension, heart disease, stroke and more. The disease has several forms, the most prevalent in both adults and children being plaque psoriasis where the lesions' distribution is seen on the skin as red layers covered with rough white scales. 

It is a common disease affecting 2-3% of the population regardless of age and gender, with about 125 million

 people around the world having to deal with it. According to estimations, there are some 260,000 psoriasis sufferers in Israel, out of which about 30,000 have a moderate to severe form. 

A better understanding of the mechanism behind the diseases has led in recent years to the development of more specific treatments that target the causes of the disease and can quickly make its symptoms disappear. Experts in Israel and abroad agree that these new treatments have been found to be very safe and effective. Their effectiveness lasts for long periods, and they can simplify and streamline treatment and bring about results that could not be formerly achieved. Prof. Yuval Ramot, an expert dermatologist and department head in Hadassah Ein-Karem Medical Center, explains that "the new generation of biological treatments has brought about a revolution in the ability to 'clear' patients of the disease. In fact, thanks to these treatments it is possible today to obtain clear or nearly clear skin in most patients. In the past, such is now attainable". 

One of these new treatments is SKYRIZI™ (generically known as Risankizumab), a treatment based on a mechanism blocking "interleukin 23" (IL-23), which is a protein discovered to be a "major player" in the disease's inflammatory process. It is administered by self-injection every three months (after two doses given at the beginning of the treatment course with one month in between).

The treatment, a part of a collaboration between Boehringer Ingelheim and AbbVie, has been studied in four extensive international clinical trials with thousands of subjects, including patients with a very advanced form of the disease. The results of the trials and the experience accumulated to date show that the new treatment is more effective and that its effects last longer. The treatment has been successful in bringing about considerable improvement in the patients' health as well as their symptoms (90/100% improvement according to the international PASI index), which means the skin is nearly clear or fully cleared of symptoms. In addition, many patients who have participated in the studies have reported that psoriasis no longer affected their quality of life.