Secukinumab treatment in new-onset psoriasis: aiming to understand the potential for disease modification – rationale and design of the randomized, multicenter STEPIn study

Background: To date, biological treatments have been assessed in subjects with a long-term history of psoriasis and previous failures to systemic and topical therapies. In rheumatoid arthritis and other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, early intensive systemic treatment prolongs treatment-free remission. We hypothesize that, by treating patients with psoriasis early with an effective systemic therapy, we may be able to alter the clinical outcome and the natural course of the disease. The STEPIn study (NCT03020199) investigates early intervention with secukinumab versus narrow-band ultraviolet B (nb-UVB) phototherapy in subjects with new-onset psoriasis. Objective: To determine whether early intervention with either nb-UVB treatment or secukinumab in subjects with new-onset plaque psoriasis might modify the natural course of the disease. Methods: One hundred and sixty subjects aged 18–50 years with new-onset (≤12 months) moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and naïve to systemic treatment and phototherapy will be randomized to secukinumab 300 mg or nb-UVB. The Main Study has two treatment arms: Arm A1, subcutaneous secukinumab 300 mg at baseline, Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4, and every 4 weeks thereafter until and including Week 52; Arm B1, one/two cycles of nb-UVB for 12 weeks each (maximum 28-week break between cycles). After treatment discontinuation, patients will be followed up and monitored for disease activity up to Week 208. A Mechanistic Sub-study will assess immunological changes and pathogenic tissue-resident memory T cells in skin biopsies. Conclusions: STEPIn is the first study to investigate whether early intensive treatment in new-onset psoriasis can modify the long-term natural course of the disease and thus become a novel treatment strategy for patients with psoriasis.