While most people enjoy the warm days of summer by wearing lighter clothing layers, people with psoriasis tend to wear long sleeves and pants year round. August is Psoriasis Awareness Month, which makes it an obvious time to bring awareness to this disease. Long thought of as only a skin rash, research has shown that psoriasis is actually a chronic, inflammatory disease.

Amgen has been a long-time supporter of patient advocacy groups such as the National Psoriasis Foundation and we’re proud to call attention to its innovative psoriasis research initiative, The National Psoriasis Victor Henschel BioBank.

The National Psoriasis BioBank is currently collecting DNA from two groups of people: those who have psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis, the cases samples, and those who do not, the control samples. The initiative aims to support and drive research about psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. This collection of psoriasis DNA samples and clinical information will be the largest single collection of its kind in the world and will further the field of psoriasis genetics research.

“Only through exhaustive research will we learn more about how these diseases function and eventually, we hope, find a cure,” said Ellen McCroskery, executive director, Global Development, Amgen. “Amgen is committed to advancing science in the best interest of patients and that’s why we applaud the National Psoriasis Foundation and their efforts to take on this important research initiative.”

Since its inception in 1968, the National Psoriasis Foundation has directed millions of dollars toward genetic research. The National Psoriasis Tissue Bank opened in 1994. Samples collected through this resource led to the first location of a suspected gene for psoriasis and the subsequent identification of three genes that are believed to be involved in the development of psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a noncontagious chronic disease in which the immune system causes the skin cells to grow at an accelerated rate. According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 7.5 million people in the United States suffer from psoriasis. Certain people are genetically predisposed to develop psoriasis, but a “trigger” is usually necessary to cause symptoms to appear. These triggers may include emotional stress, injury to the skin, some types of infection, or reaction to certain drugs. While there are several types of psoriasis, including plaque, guttate, pustular, inverse, and erythrodermic, approximately 80 percent of psoriasis patients suffer from plaque psoriasis.

About the National Psoriasis Foundation
The National Psoriasis Foundation is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to educating, serving and empowering people with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.
For more than 35 years, the National Psoriasis Foundation has made a significant difference in the way psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are treated and perceived. It is supported by the donations of individual members and corporate sponsors, like Amgen.

To learn more about the National Psoriasis Victor Henschel BioBank, please visit: www.stoppsoriasis.org