Ortonne Jean-Paul, Prinz Jörg C
Department of Dermatology, Hôpital L'Archet II, 15 rue de Saint Antoine de Ginestiere, BP 079, Nice, France.
Eur J Dermatol. 2004 Jan-Feb;14(1):41-5.
Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated disease affecting the skin and sometimes the joints. Approximately 14 million people in Europe have psoriasis and the disease has a profound effect on the quality of life of patients worldwide. Currently available therapies for psoriasis have several shortcomings, including organ-based toxicity, generalized immunosuppression, short duration of response, and inconvenient regimens. Alefacept is a recombinant, fully human fusion protein that selectively targets the memory T cell population implicated in psoriasis pathogenesis. Alefacept is unique among psoriasis treatments because of its selective therapeutic action, ability to induce lengthy disease remissions even in the absence of continued therapy, positive effect on quality of life, and favorable safety profile. Two courses of alefacept confer greater efficacy and duration of clinical improvement versus that observed with a single course. This novel biologic agent is currently approved in the United States and under regulatory review in Europe for moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis.
