Apremilast in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: a profile of its use in paediatric patients

<p dir="ltr"><b>Funding</b> The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Declarations</b></p><p dir="ltr"><b>Authorship and conflict of interes</b><b>t</b> M. B. Brown and M. Shirley are salaried employees of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature and declare no relevant conflicts of interest. All authors contributed to this article and are responsible for its content.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Ethics approval, Consent to participate, Consent for publication, Availability of data and material, Code availability</b> Not applicable.</p><p dir="ltr">Additional information about this Adis Drug Review can be found <a href="http://www.springer.com/gp/adis/products-services/adis-journals-newsletters/adis-drug-reviews" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.</p><p dir="ltr">Abstract <br>Apremilast (Otezla^®), a phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, is a valuable treatment option for paediatric patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. It is the first approved oral treatment for plaque psoriasis in paediatric patients and is indicated in the USA and the EU for patients aged ≥ 6 years and weighing ≥ 20 kg with moderate to severe disease who are candidates for systemic therapy. As demonstrated in a placebo-controlled phase 3 clinical trial in this population, twice-daily apremilast significantly reduces psoriasis severity and skin involvement over 16 weeks. Treatment responses were durable, with response rates continuing to improve through 52 weeks. Apremilast was generally well tolerated in paediatric patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, with a tolerability profile similar to that established in adult patients. The most common adverse events with apremilast are gastrointestinal disorders.</p><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025</p>