Efficacy and safety of ixekizumab after switching from fumaric acid esters or methotrexate in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis naïve to systemic treatment.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder, which, in cases of moderate-to-severe disease, requires long-term systemic therapy.1 For patients with an inadequate response or intolerance to a specific systemic therapy, switching psoriasis treatments is a common practice that may improve outcomes. Switching from conventional to biologic therapies is of particular interest, but few head-to-head trials have been performed.2 The first head-to-head, prospective, randomised trial comparing fumaric acid esters (FAE) and methotrexate, two commonly used first-line conventional systemic agents, and an interleukin (IL)-17A antagonist, ixekizumab, was published recently.