practicaldermatology.com
A novel monoclonal antibody targeting IL-23 for the treatment of psoriasis offers an extended half-life that will be a key differentiator for patients, according to Bruce Strober, MD, PhD.
Dr. Strober hosted a panel on the rapidly changing landscape of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in “Psoriasis Update 2025” at the Maui Derm Hawaii 2025 meeting in Maui, Hawaii.
One of the highlights of Dr. Strober’s presentation was a discussion of ORKA-001, which has displayed a significantly extended half-life when compared to risankizumab in non-human primates. ORKA-001 binds specifically to IL-23p19, with a validated mechanism of action and similar epitope and potency to risankizumab.1
“The molecule behaves like risankizumab in terms of its ability to inhibit pathophysiology of psoriasis, theoretically,” Dr. Strober said. “And then, if you put this same molecule into nonhuman primates … the half-life is much extended over risankizumab. In fact, it’s about three-times greater the half-life.”
Dr. Strober also showed promising predictive simulations for 300-mg dosing in humans every 6 months following initial dosages at Weeks 0 and 4.
“I am fairly optimistic that this is going to come to clinic,” he said. “I somewhat think patients are going to love it, [with the] longer intervals. … That might be the closest perception of a cure you can have for patients.”