The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved ixekizumab to treat adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Psoriasis is a skin condition that causes patches of skin redness and flaking. Psoriasis is an autoimmune disorder that occurs more commonly in patients with a family history of the disease, and most often begins in people between the ages of 15 and 35.
The most common form of psoriasis is plaque psoriasis, in which patients develop thick, red skin with flaky, silver-white scales. Today's approval provides patients suffering from plaque psoriasis with another important treatment option to help relieve the skin irritation and discomfort from the condition, said the director of the Office of Drug Evaluation in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The active ingredient is an antibody (ixekizumab) that binds to a protein (interleukin (IL)-17A) that causes…
