Study Purpose: A study to learn if ixekizumab reduces the severity of symptoms in participants with psoriatic arthritis
Why was the research needed? Researchers are looking for a better way to treat psoriatic arthritis, also known as PsA, in adults. Before a treatment can be approved for patients to take, researchers do clinical studies to find out how it works and how safe it is.
PsA is a type of arthritis that affects some people who have psoriasis. People with psoriasis have inflammation of their skin, which causes red, itchy, and scaly patches, also called plaques. People with PsA may also have inflammation in their joints and tendons, which causes swelling, pain, and stiffness. There are treatments for PsA, but these may not work for some people.
In this study, the researchers wanted to learn more about a treatment called ixekizumab. This treatment works by blocking a certain protein in the immune system that is thought to play a role in this disease. In this study, the researchers wanted to find out if ixekizumab works in a large number of participants with PsA. They also wanted to find out if the participants had any medical problems that might be related to ixekizumab.
The main questions researchers wanted to answer in this study were:
• Did ixekizumab reduce the severity of the participants’ symptoms?
• What medical problems did the participants have during the study?
To answer these questions, the researchers asked for the help of men and women with PsA. There are other treatments for PsA called biologic treatments. Biologic treatments are made from living cells. They work by blocking certain proteins in the immune system from causing inflammation. But, these treatments do not work for all people with PsA. The people in this study
had not taken a biologic treatment before.
