New topical aerosol treatment for psoriasis vulgaris scores high in test

Perhaps the most valuable pearl discussed in the seminar, “Topical Therapy Pearls,” presented by Gary Goldenberg, M.D., Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas, was a new topical combo treatment for psoriasis vulgaris.

The treatment is a novel aerosol foam formulation of calcipotriene 0.005% (Cal) plus betamethasone dipropionate 0.064% (BD), which goes under the working name of Leo90100 while in trials.

READ: Evidence-based guidance for psoriasis treatment

“Combination therapies are very important in treating psoriasis, and we’re getting better at them,” says Dr. Goldenberg, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital’s Icahn School of Medicine, New York.

Just how much better can be seen in the results of a randomized, double-blind, multi-center, three-arm phase 2 study of Leo90100 that Dr. Goldenberg presented. The study was designed to measure the efficacy of Leo90100 compared with Cal foam or BD foam alone in treating psoriasis vulgaris. A total of 302 patients applied once-daily treatment to all lesions on their body and scalp for four weeks. One hundred one used the Cal aerosol foam, 101 used the BD foam and 100 used the combination Leo90100 foam.

After four weeks, 45% of the Leo90100 patients achieved treatment success on the body, as compared with 31% in the BD-only group and 15 percent in the Cal-only group. As for scalp treatment, 53% of the Leo90100 patients achieved treatment success, compared with 48% of the BD-only group and 36% of the Cal-only group.

In addition, Dr. Goldenberg says, Patient’s Global Assessment (PaGA) showed that a larger segment of the Leo90100 group (60%) assessed that they had achieved treatment success for body and scalp combined than either the Cal-only group (30%) or the BD-only group (41%).

The aerosol factor makes this topical unique, Dr. Goldenberg says: “Penetration is better and efficacy is better with this aerosol product.”