Is Wynzora cream used to treat plaque psoriasis?

Official answer

by Drugs.com

Yes, Wynzora is approved to treat plaque psoriasis in adults 18 years and older. Wynzora is a cream that contains calcipotriene, a vitamin D analog, and betamethasone dipropionate, a topical corticosteroid. It is applied to the skin once daily for up to 8 weeks, but if your skin clears sooner, treatment may be discontinued.

Plaque psoriasis is a chronic skin condition often found on the elbows, knees, scalp and lower back. It is characterized by raised, red lesions with a silvery white scale that may itch, burn or bleed. The exact cause of psoriasis is not known and there is no cure, but symptoms can usually be well-managed with treatment.

Wynzora is manufactured by MC2 Therapeutics. It was first approved in July 2020.

How well does Wynzora work for psoriasis?

Studies have shown that after 8 weeks of treatment, over one-third of patients will have a 2-grade improvement in their skin symptoms that their doctor will describe as “clear or almost clear” and itching will also dramatically improve. Some people saw improvement in their skin symptoms, “flare-ups” and itching as early as the first week of treatment.

Studies

In Phase 3 studies, Wynzora was compared to a vehicle (cream that contains no active medicine) in 794 subjects with mild-to-moderate psoriasis. Over 80% of patients had moderate psoriasis symptoms at the start of the study.

Investigators primarily sought to determine which group had the best treatment success after 8 weeks of treatment. Treatment success was defined as a Physician’s Global Assessment (PGA) score of at least a 2-grade improvement from baseline and equating to skin of “clear” or “almost clear. A reduction in itch, a secondary endpoint, was also evaluated at week four.

Skin improvements

After 8 weeks of treatment, 37.4% of patients using Wynzora showed a result of “clear or almost clear” skin (and a 2-grade improvement in skin symptoms) compared to 3.7% for the vehicle control group.

When looking at improvements after one week, the group receiving Wynzora demonstrated a ≥1-grade improvement in significantly more patients (36%) than the vehicle group (12.6%). In addition, over 83% of patients had at least a 1-grade improvement from baseline (the start of the study) at week 8.

Itching

Wynzora works quickly to help alleviate the common symptom of itching patients in psoriasis. Studies have shown that relief of itching can positively impact a patient’s quality of life.

After the first week of treatment, over twice as many people receiving Wynzora had improvements in itching compared to the vehicle group and it continued to improve over 8 weeks.

Wynzora vs. Taclonex

In a phase 3 comparative study at week 8, treatment with Wynzora cream was shown to be as effective as treatment with Taclonex (treatment not worse or non-inferior) for the primary endpoint of treatment success (37.4% vs. 22.8%, respectively).

Treatment success was defined as at least a 2-grade improvement from baseline in the Physician’s Global Assessment (PGA) score and an PGA score equating to “clear” or “almost clear”.

Taclonex (calcipotriene/betamethasone dipropionate topical suspension, 0.005%/0.064%) is a topical liquid used to treat plaque psoriasis that also contains calcipotriene and betamethasone dipropionate. Taclonex Topical Suspension (liquid) is approved to treat plaque psoriasis of the scalp and body in people 12 years and older.

Taclonex topical suspension and Wynzora topical cream are the same strength products and both are applied once daily.

This is not all the information you need to know about Wynzora (calcipotriene and betamethasone dipropionate) cream for safe and effective use and does not take the place of your doctor’s directions. Review the full product information and discuss this information and any questions you have with your doctor or other health care provider.