Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD: Treating Hidradenitis Suppurativa with IL-17, JAK Inhibitors

At the Maui Derm NP+PA Fall 2024 conference in Nashville, Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, spoke with the HCPLive team about his talk regarding promising therapies for patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) such as interleukin (IL)-27 and janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors.

Chovatiya, clinical associate professor of medicine for the Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School, was asked about his presentation’s coverage of IL-17 inhibition for HS.

“IL-17 in general as a cytokine, we know, is really important for driving some elements of neutrophilic-related inflammation, which we know is an important part of this disease,” Chovatiya explained. “Additionally, it seems to at least be in part responsible for some of the inflammatory events that we see in the pilosebaceous unit, too. Generally speaking, it is a therapeutic strategy that makes sense.”

He added that it is not a therapeutic strategy that is going to fully reverse the course of disease, resulting in complete clearance for every patient. Nevertheless, Chovatiya noted that research suggests that the more completely IL-17 is blocked, the better results are going to be.

“It's the reason why blockade with either bimekizumab as a monoclonal antibody that binds IL-17A and F, as opposed to just simply IL-17A, or blockade with sonelokimab as a nanobody that blocks A and F…(both) probably have some of the higher reported data we've seen in terms of patients getting beyond high score of 50, high score 75 or even 90, and even potentially 100 in a small fraction of people.”

Later, he was asked about JAK inhibition treatment data for healthcare professionals to understand.

“I think that JAK inhibition also makes sense, because we know that there's a number of cytokine pathways that are important in HS and inhibition of JAK proteins can allow you to work across multiple pathways of cytokines, potentially leading to efficacy,” Chovatiya explained. “In the mid-phase results that we've seen presented thus far, it's clear that the povoricitinib and upadacitinib definitely appear to have efficacy that separates them from placebo itself.”

To learn more about options for HS therapy, view the full interview segment posted above.

The quotes used in this summary were edited for the purposes of clarity.

Chovatiya reports serving as an advisor, consultant, speaker, and/or investigator for AbbVie, Amgen, Apogee Therapeutics, Arcutis, Argenx, ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, Beiersdorf, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cara Therapeutics, Dermavant, Eli Lilly and Company, FIDE, Formation Bio, Galderma, Genentech, GSK, Incyte, LEO Pharma, L’Oréal, Nektar Therapeutics, Novartis, Opsidio, Pfizer Inc, Regeneron, RAPT, Sanofi, Sitryx, and UCB.