A psoriasis drug cleared skin completely in six in ten patients

Adalimumab had long been a standard biologic for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, but full clearance on it was uncommon. Researchers tested a newer drug, bimekizumab, which blocks two inflammatory proteins instead of one, head to head against it.

In the international BE SURE trial, led by Richard Warren of the University of Manchester, researchers randomized 478 adults with moderate to severe psoriasis to bimekizumab or adalimumab. At week 16, about six in ten patients on bimekizumab reached completely clear skin, versus roughly two in ten on adalimumab.

Complete clearance, not just improvement, became a realistic goal for many patients rather than a rare outcome. Bimekizumab also carried a higher rate of oral yeast infections, a known tradeoff of blocking the IL-17F pathway it targets, and longer-term studies continued tracking durability and safety beyond the first year.

Complete clearance became the new goal.