In a  trial recently published, the authors aimed to assess the comparative effectiveness of ustekinumab and secukinumab in patients with psoriasis and evaluate whether the relative effectiveness of the CLEAR trial can be replicated.

The study authors concluded that secukinumab resulted in more patients achieving a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) of 2 or lower after 12 months of treatment than ustekinumab in patients with psoriasis.

Evidence of the comparative effectiveness of systemic treatments for psoriasis is important to inform patients and clinicians treatment choices. The psoriasis treatment may be less effective in daily practice compared with clinical trials. Hence, a comparative effectiveness research study used a target trial emulation approach.

Reference: Zeenas ZN, et al. Randomized trial replication using observational data for the comparative effectiveness of secukinumab and ustekinumab in psoriasis. JAMA Dermatol. 2020. DOI: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2020.4202