Open Label Study of Alefacept Injections to Patients With Moderate to Severe Psoriasis

This is a single-center, open-label, pilot study. A total of 18 subjects will be enrolled in this 6 month study to evaluate whether the response to intralesional alefacept injections prior to the standard course of intramuscularly (IM) treatment can predict clinical outcomes in psoriasis patients. One lesion with a psoriasis severity assessment score greater than 3 and an induration score greater than 1 will be identified on each patient. Each lesion will receive only one intralesional alefacept injection during the first three weeks of the study (1 lesion per week). Following a 2 week observation period, subjects will undergo a standard 12 week course of weekly intramuscular alefacept injections. The Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score will be used to determine the effectiveness of the intramuscular alefacept treatments. An 8 week follow-up period will begin after the last dose of alefacept is administered where safety and efficacy measures will continue to be monitored as outlined in the study procedures. The hypothesis is that the response to intralesional alefacept injections, whether it is positive or no benefit, will predict the clinical response to intramuscular alefacept administration.