The PennZone

PHILADELPHIA - PennZone -- Parast's research at Johnson & Johnson spans inflammatory diseases including Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriatic arthritis, and psoriasis, with a focus on clinical biomarker science, single-cell RNA sequencing, and multiomic data integration. His work on the icotrokinra pharmacodynamic program is part of a broader effort to identify biomarkers that can predict and monitor therapeutic response in immune-mediated disease.

For Parast, the approval reflects a broader shift in how the field approaches inflammatory disease. "We are moving away from broad immunosuppression toward therapies that are precise at the receptor level. The IL-23 pathway is central to the inflammatory cascade in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Understanding how to measure and modulate that pathway pharmacodynamically is where translational science creates real clinical value."

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The FDA approval follows phase 3 data from the ICONIC program demonstrating high rates of complete skin clearance and durable disease control, including in adolescent patients. Icotrokinra is now the first oral targeted therapy in its class approved for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older.

"What makes this molecule scientifically compelling is the precision of the mechanism," said Parast. "Icotrokinra is the first targeted oral peptide to selectively bind the IL-23 receptor with high affinity. The pharmacodynamic data showed early and sustained suppression of the IL-23 pathway, and that signal tracked closely with the clinical responses patients experienced. That kind of translational clarity, from mechanism to biomarker to outcome, is what moves a program forward."

Published in JCI Insight in December 2025, the study titled Icotrokinra induces early and sustained pharmacodynamic responses in phase IIb study of patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis examined how icotrokinra's selective inhibition of the IL-23 receptor translates into measurable biological and clinical responses in patients. The findings helped characterize the relationship between systemic pharmacodynamic changes and clinical outcomes across the FRONTIER-1 and FRONTIER-2 trials.

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The March 2026 FDA approval of icotrokinra (ICOTYDE) for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis marks a pivotal moment in the treatment of inflammatory skin disease, and one that Roohid Parast, a translational scientist at Johnson & Johnson in Springhouse, Pennsylvania, has followed closely as a co-author of the foundational pharmacodynamic research supporting its clinical development.

More information on Roohid Parast's research and professional work is available at https://roohidparast.github.io