molecules of the month

Deucravacitinib (Sotyktu) is a first-in-class oral, allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor, FDA-approved in September 2022 for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. It is the first novel oral therapy for this indication in nearly 10 years, and is believed to potentially become the new standard of care. Deucravacitinib is the first de novo deuterated drug to be approved, and is considered to be a likely megablockbuster for BMS. It is only the second approved deuterated drug following the approval of deutetrabenazine in 2017.  Deucravacitinib’s target, TYK2, is one of four Janus kinases (JAKs) and regulates the signaling pathways of a wide range of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-12, IL-23, and type I interferons (IFNα). Unlike the other JAKs, it acts upon select…