Francisco A. Kerdel, Zoe D. Draelos, Stephen K. Tyring, Tina Lin, Radhakrishnan Pillai

Halobetasol propionate (HP) 0.05% is a highly effective short-term treatment for plaque psoriasis. Compare efficacy and safety of once-daily HP 0.01% lotion and 0.05% cream (Ultravate®) in moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled Phase 2 study (N = 150). Patients randomized to HP 0.01% lotion, HP 0.05% cream, or vehicle, once-daily for 2 weeks. Efficacy assessments included treatment success; impact on erythema, plaque elevation, and scaling; and improvement in Body Surface Area (BSA). Safety and treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) evaluated throughout. 30.0% and 31.6% of patients were treatment successes with HP 0.01% lotion and HP 0.05% cream (P = 0.854). A 2-grade improvement in erythema, plaque elevation and scaling was achieved in 38.3%, 40.0% and 43.3% of patients, compared with 31.6% (P = 0.446), 36.8% (P = 0.727) and 47.4% (P = 0.663) on HP 0.05% cream. BSA improved by 22.3% with HP 0.01% lotion compared with 20.9% (P = 0.787). There was one treatment-related application-site reaction with HP 0.01% lotion, and no AE reports of skin atrophy, striae, telangiectasia, or folliculitis. Halobetasol propionate 0.01% lotion was comparable to the higher concentration halobetasol propionate 0.05% cream; achieving treatment success, reducing psoriasis signs at the target lesion, and improving BSA following two weeks' daily-treatment. Both treatments were well-tolerated.