Analysis Shows Long-Term Cost Impact of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis

Key Takeaways

1. Comorbidity-related costs associated with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis may reach hundreds of billions of dollars over a lifetime, driven by cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and mental health disorders, according to results from a new economic analysis.
2. The model estimated that systemic therapies such as biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) could reduce comorbidity-related costs by approximately 34% to 48% across the United States, Denmark, and Vietnam.
3. Investigators emphasized the findings are based on a modeled economic assessment and should be interpreted alongside the study’s acknowledged assumptions and limitations. 

New research published in Dermatology and Therapy suggests the economic burden associated with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis extends far beyond the diseases themselves and may reach hundreds of billions of dollars over a lifetime.

Psoriatic Disease Comorbidities Drive Significant Long-Term Costs

The review and economic modeling study, conducted by investigators affiliated with the International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA), evaluated the lifetime burden of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and mental health disorders among patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Researchers developed a cohort-based model using data from the United States, Denmark, and Vietnam to estimate potential cost offsets associated with earlier systemic treatment.

In the United States, annual comorbidity-related costs among patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis were estimated at approximately $5.2 billion, including direct healthcare expenditures and productivity losses. Over a lifetime, that burden was projected to reach $153 billion. For psoriatic arthritis, the modeled lifetime burden was estimated at $288.1 billion.

The investigators found that systemic therapies may substantially reduce the economic impact of these comorbidities. According to the analysis, biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) generated the largest modeled reductions, with comorbidity-related cost offsets ranging from roughly 34% to 48% across the countries evaluated.

Study authors noted that the analysis was based on a simplified economic model that assumed sustained treatment effects, full treatment adherence, and broad uptake of systemic therapies. They emphasized that additional real-world and cost-effectiveness research is needed to better define the long-term impact of systemic treatment on comorbidity prevention and healthcare spending.

“Our findings suggest that timely systemic therapy may offer more than symptom control; it may be associated with reductions in psoriatic disease-related comorbidities and their related healthcare and societal costs,” the authors wrote.

Source

Norton, N., Nemeth, Z., Nanda, S. et al.Dermatology and Therapy (Heidelberg) (2026). Doi:10.1007/s13555-026-