Saudi consensus statement on biologic treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis (2020)

Abstract

Psoriasis is a common chronic and complex inflammatory skin disease that affects over 125 million people worldwide. Management of psoriasis in daily clinical practice in Saudi Arabia is variable. Local preferences for management differ, which may have a bearing on the treatment selection. Biologic therapy is now a well-established strategy for managing moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. There is a clear need for national consensus statements due to the extended role and high availability of literature on these agents. As a result of an initiative of the Ministry of Health, a multidisciplinary expert panel of dermatologists and pharmacists with practical experience in the clinical management of psoriasis were invited to be part of a work group to update the previous practical guidelines on the biologic treatment of psoriasis published in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2014. The overall aim of this consensus document is to deliver evidence-based recommendations on the use, screening, and monitoring of biologic therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. These recommendations also address the use of biologic therapy in special patient populations. They were developed after rigorous evaluation of existing international guidelines as well as the latest emerging evidence. Updates of the present consensus document will be provided as needed to incorporate new data or agents.

Keywords:

• Clinical practice guideline
• psoriasis
• Saudi Arabia
• evidence-based medicine

Acknowledgments

A medical writer (Dr. Mike Gwilt, GT Communications) edited the manuscript prepared by the authors for submission to the journal. Sahar Shami (Itkan Health Consulting) provided medical writing support, including drafting the proceedings of the four workshops, development of the first draft, and collation/incorporation of author comments.

Disclosure statement

Issam Hamadah received research grants from AbbVie, Novartis, Janssen; received honoraria speaking for AbbVie, Janssen, Novartis, Sanofi, Pfizer; received honoraria serving as a consultant for AbbVie, Janssen, Newbridge, Novartis, Sanofi, and Biologix; received travel support from AbbVie, Janssen, Galderma, and Sanofi. Mohammed Fatani received research grants from Sanofi; received honoraria speaking for AbbVie, Janssen, Novartis, Sanofi, Eli Lilly; received honoraria serving as a consultant for Sanofi, AbbVie, Novartis, Janssen, Newbridge; received travel support from AbbVie, Sanofi, Novartis, Janssen. Yousef Binamer received speaker honorarium, honoraria serving as a consultant, and travel support from AbbVie, Janssen, Novartis, Sanofi, and Eli Lilly; received research grants from Novartis and Sanofi. Maysa Eshmawi received travel support from Novartis. Bedor Al Omari received honoraria serving as a consultant/advisory board member for Janssen, AbbVie, Eli Lilly. All other authors declared no conflicts of interest regarding the publications of these recommendations.

Additional information

Funding

This guidelines project was funded by the Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.