Alefacept for chronic plaque psoriasis: a selective therapy with long-lasting disease remissions and an encouraging safety profile.

Alefacept (Amevive) is a recombinant, fully human fusion protein that selectively targets memory T cells that have been implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Alefacept is approved in the United States as a treatment for chronic plaque psoriasis. Alefacept is unique among treatments for moderate to severe psoriasis because of its selective therapeutic action, favorable safety profile, and ability to induce lengthy disease remissions.