Conditions: Psoriasis
Keywords: Psoriasis Infliximab Remicade
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 129
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to determine the superiority and efficacy of infliximab induction therapy in chinese participants with moderate to severe plaque-type psoriasis (scaly skin rash) compared with placebo (an inactive substance that is compared with a drug to test whether the drug has a real effect in a clinical trial).

Detailed description:
This is a double-blind (neither physician nor participant knows the treatment that the participant receives), multicenter (when more than one hospital or medical school team work on a medical research study) and placebo-controlled study of infliximab in participants with moderate to severe plaque-type psoriasis. All the eligible participants will be randomly assigned to infliximab and placebo groups. The infliximab group will receive 5 milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) infliximab infusions (a fluid or a medicine delivered into a vein by way of a needle) intravenously (into a vein) at Week 0, 2 and 6 in the induction treatment phase followed by maintenance regimen of the intervention every 8 weeks up to 26 weeks. Placebo infusions will also be given at Week 10, 12 and 16. The placebo group will receive placebo infusion at Week 0, 2, 6, 14 and 22. At Week 10, participants in placebo group will then receive infliximab induction therapy. Efficacy of the participants will primarily be evaluated by percentage of participants who achieve a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index 75 (PASI) response at Week 10. Participants' safety will be monitored throughout the study.

Arms:
arm 1: 5 milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) infusion (a fluid or a medicine delivered into a vein by way of a needle) of infliximab administered intravenously (into a vein) at Week 0, 2 and 6 followed by maintenance regimen of 5 mg/kg infliximab at Week 14 and 22. Placebo (an inactive substance that is compared with a drug to test whether the drug has a real effect in a clinical trial infusion), matched to infliximab will be given at Week 10, 12 and 16. Total duration of treatment will be 26 weeks. arm 2: Placebo infusion, matched to infliximab will be given intravenously at Week 0, 2 and 6. At Week 10, 12 and 16, participants will receive 5 mg/kg infliximab intravenously. Placebo infusion will be again given at Week 14 and 22. Total duration of treatment will be 26 weeks.

Interventions: intervention 1: Placebo intervention 2: Infliximab
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Placebo matched to infliximab given at Weeks 10, 12 and 16 in Infliximab arm and at Weeks 0, 2 and 6 in Placebo arm intervention 2: 5 mg/kg infusion given intravenously at Week 0,2,6 (induction treatment phase) and at Week 14 and 22 in maintenance phase in infliximab arm and at Week 12 and 16 in Placebo arm.

Protocol document: