Evaluation of WO2013076170: the use of a dihydroorotate dehydrogenase inhibitor for the treatment of psoriasis

Abstract

Inhibition of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) modulates pyrimidine biosynthesis. Effective inhibitors are immunomodulatory drugs clinically useful in the treatment of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and multiple sclerosis. There is limited evidence of their potential utility in treating psoriasis. This patent application claims topical formulations of the non-hepatotoxic DHODH inhibitor 2-[(3,5-difluoro-3′-methoxy-1,1′-biphenyl-4-yl)amino]nicotinic acid for use in the treatment of psoriasis. This inhibitor had previously been claimed to be useful in treating various autoimmune disease.

Keywords::

• autoimmune disease
• dihydroorotate dehydrogenase
• nicotinic acid
• psoriasis