Safety in psoriasis

Psoriasis has become a crowded space, with more than 60 products in Phase II and beyond. ChemoCentryx Inc. hopes its CCX832 will be more effective than topicals that are good only for mild psoriasis, without the toxicities and risks of infection that accompany standard of care for moderate to severe disease. The company believes the compound is the first ChemR23 inhibitor to enter human studies, with a Phase I trial that began last week.

Older systemic therapies to treat chronic, moderate to severe psoriasis come with risks. For example, methotrexate can cause hematotoxicity and hepatotoxicity, and cyclosporine can cause nephrotoxicity...