Apremilast

Category: pharmacological

Aliases: Otezla

Pharmacological Mechanism

PDE4 inhibitor — raises cellular cAMP → reduced inflammatory cytokine release. Oral approval for psoriasis + psoriatic arthritis + Behçet syndrome. Modest efficacy + cleaner side-effect profile (no infection / malignancy risk) than biologics.

Half-Life (t½)

PO: 8h

Dosing Guidelines

• PO: Typical 30 mg (Range: 10–30 mg)

Target Organ Systems

• integumentary
• immune-hematologic

Pathways It Modulates

• cAMP / PKA second-messenger signaling (inhibitor) — PDE4
• Mast cell stabilization + leukotriene axis (inhibitor) — PDE4 (cAMP elevation → reduced TNF/IL-23)

Chemical Identifiers

• PubChem CID: 11561674
• Formula: C22H24N2O7S
• Molecular weight: 460.5 g/mol
• InChIKey: IMOZEMNVLZVGJZ-QGZVFWFLSA-N
• SMILES: CCOC1=C(C=CC(=C1)[C@@H](CS(=O)(=O)C)N2C(=O)C3=C(C2=O)C(=CC=C3)NC(=O)C)OC

References

• PMID 33932093
• PMID 24882690