Ustekinumab

What is Ustekinumab?

Ustekinumab was approved by the Singapore Health Science Authority in September 2009 to treat adults 18 years and older with moderate to severe psoriasis who cannot use or inadequately respond to oral medication and light therapy.

Ustekinumab is a proven biologic treatment that helps manage your psoriasis with 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. It’s an injection given at week 0, week 4, and every 3 months thereafter. Each injection is given using a small needle into the skin.

What results can be expected?

Clinical studies in over 2000 patients showed that two-thirds of patients treated with Ustekinumab achieved at least 75% skin clearance after 12 weeks. Patient saw improvements within 2 to 4 weeks of starting treatment and improvements were maintained for up to 1.5 years in the majority of patients who initially responded to Ustekinumab and continued treatment. Treatment with Ustekinumab is also associated with improvements in quality of life, mental well-being and the ability to work. Ustekinumab was shown to be well-tolerated with less than one in 10 patients experiencing side effects such as sore throat, stuffy nose and headache.

How does it work?

Ustekinumab is a new biologic medicine that works differently from other biologics available for the treatment of psoriasis. An overactive immune system can lead to high levels of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and IL-23, two naturally occurring proteins in the body that are involved in the development of psoriasis. Ustekinumab specifically targets and blocks the action of IL-12 and IL-23. By preventing these two proteins from attaching to cells in your body, Ustekinumab slows down the overproduction of skin cells and helps reduce inflammation.