Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory arthritis that occurs in about 30% of people with psoriasis, causing joint pain, swelling, and stiffness alongside skin disease. It can damage joints progressively and also affects tendons, nails, and the spine.
What's actually going on in research
IL-17 inhibitors (secukinumab, ixekizumab) and IL-23 inhibitors (guselkumab, risankizumab) have become important treatment options across both skin and joint manifestations. JAK inhibitors including upadacitinib and tofacitinib are also effective and are being compared with biologics. Combination trials are testing whether targeting multiple pathways simultaneously achieves better joint and skin outcomes than monotherapy.
IL-23 inhibitors
Guselkumab and risankizumab target the IL-23 pathway driving both psoriatic skin and joint disease. Trials are testing them as first biologics, in combination, and for axial involvement.
JAK inhibitors
Upadacitinib and tofacitinib produce rapid joint and skin improvement. Trials are comparing them head-to-head with biologics and exploring reduced maintenance doses after remission.
Combination biologic therapy
Combining biologics targeting different pathways — such as an IL-17 inhibitor with a PDE4 inhibitor — is being tested to see if dual mechanism therapy provides additive benefits for difficult-to-treat disease.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically requires confirmed psoriatic arthritis diagnosis with active joint disease, specified prior conventional DMARD failure, and sometimes specific disease domain (peripheral joints, axial, enthesitis).
What types of trials are currently open
- Biologic trials — Testing new IL-17, IL-23, and TNF inhibitors for joint and skin disease in psoriatic arthritis.
- JAK inhibitor trials — Evaluating JAK inhibitors versus biologics for joints, skin, and special domains like enthesitis and dactylitis.
- Axial PsA trials — Testing treatments specifically for spine and sacroiliac joint involvement in psoriatic arthritis.
- Remission maintenance trials — Testing dose reduction and treatment withdrawal strategies after achieving disease control.
- Observational studies — Tracking structural damage, cardiovascular risk, and quality of life across treatment types.
Recently added Psoriatic Arthritis trials
Oxidative Stress in Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases
Rheumatic diseases constitute a group of non-communicable diseases characterized by chronic inflammation. The most common autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) are rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, myositis, Sjogren's syndrome and systemic scleroderma. These autoimmune disorders lead to joint destruction and adversely influence the human body systemically. One of their characteristics is comorbidity, since patients usually suffer also from other pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases and obesity. In addition, their treatment requires a combination of both biological and conventional pharmaceutical interventions as well as other parameters such as physical activity programs, nutrition, and the use of smart electronic devices. Therefore, the ARDs burden health systems worldwide. Apart from the physiological manifestations of ARDs, specific changes are observed at the cellular and molecular level. A common biochemical/molecular symptom of these diseases is oxidative stress. This condition leads to the disturbance of blood and tissue redox status due to the excessive production of free radicals. Given that free radicals are highly reactive moieties with strong oxidative capacity against biomolecules (i.e., proteins, lipids, DNA), they compromise the efficacy of the intrinsic antioxidant mechanisms and, finally, induce the disruption of redox homeostasis. However, there is no sufficient data linking the levels of redox status of patients with the progression of ARDs over time. Indeed, the onset and symptoms of ARDs are intertwined with the disruption of the patient redox homeostasis and the induction of oxidative stress. Concurrently, the absence of a completely effective pharmaceutical treatment emerges the need for the adoption of novel biomarkers for monitoring the severity of the symptoms and the evolution of ARDs in general. To that end, this study aims at first to investigate the blood redox status of patients with ARDs. Thus, specific redox biomarkers will be evaluated in the blood of patients in three time points (i.e., at Days 1, 180 and 360), and they will be associated with the clinical manifestations of their diseases. The ultimate goal is to clarify whether these biomarkers could putatively exert clinical significance, namely whether they could constitute an additional tool for the monitoring of the progression of these diseases in clinical practice.
Study to Evaluate Tulisokibart in Adults With Psoriatic Arthritis (MK-7240-015)
Researchers are looking for new ways to treat Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA). This study will help find out if a study medicine called tulisokibart (MK-7240) can treat symptoms of active PsA. This study assesses the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of tulisokibart in adult participants with active PsA. In this study, researchers will look at different doses of tulisokibart. Researchers want to learn if at least one of the study doses of tulisokibart works better than a placebo to lessen PsA symptoms. A placebo looks like the study medicine but has no study medicine in it. Using a placebo helps researchers better understand the effects of the study medicine.
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