Amgen has rolled out a new TV spot for its psoriasis offering Otezla (apremilast) called “Karaoke,” which uses a lighthearted karaoke night setting to highlight the social anxiety many people with plaque psoriasis experience.
The ad opens with an introduction to a character named Ned, who is set to perform at his “first team karaoke night.”
The narrator prompts the thought: “What if my flaky, red plaque psoriasis takes center stage?”
The stage lights focus on him, the karaoke screen flashes lyrics like “Itchy, flaky, plaquey ooh … itchy, flaky, plaquey,” and the voiceover delivers the message: “What if Ned knew he could treat differently?”
According to the on-screen text, the spot offers: “Clearer skin with Otezla after just four months.”
It explains how the pill can treat plaque psoriasis even in hard-to-treat areas, leading to clearer skin and reducing itching and flaking. It also says how doctors have been prescribing Otezla for over 10 years.
“With Otezla, clearer skin could be your jam. Live in the moment. If you’re struggling with topicals, ask your doctor about Otezla,” highlighting the advantage of a systemic therapy over topicals.
Related: World Psoriasis Day 2025: The Latest in Innovation and Care
Amgen acquired the rights to Otezla from Celgene in 2019 in a $13.4 billion cash deal, and is now the company responsible for manufacturing and distributing it globally.
Not a new player on the scene, Otezla remains a familiar, oral alternative for patients seeking treatment options beyond topicals.
The psoriasis treatment market remains highly competitive, with numerous biologics, small molecule therapies and biosimilars vying for patient and prescriber attention.
Otezla is an oral PDE4 inhibitor approved for plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and Behçet’s disease in the US.
Within the crowded psoriasis landscape, including biologics like Skyrizi (risankizumab‐rzaa), Tremfya (guselkumab) and Cosentyx (secukinumab), the brand appears to be emphasizing three differentiators: oral administration, avoiding injections; a long-standing safety and prescribing history (over 10 years on the market); and suitability for patients earlier in the treatment journey, particularly those who have not yet transitioned to biologics.
While many newer biologics emphasize a high percentage of skin clearance (e.g., PASI-90/100), in the ad, Amgen emphasizes real-life, relatable moments. The focus on quality of life and social comfort is important as these aspects are often overlooked in psoriasis.
The ad highlights that even way before severe disease, patients might feel held back in social situations. By framing treatment as enabling “living in the moment,” Otezla may be positioning itself for patients who are between topical therapy and systemic biologics.
The website version of the commercial indicates eligibility for the co-pay program (“Pay as little as $0”). Highlighting access makes sense given cost pressures in dermatology.
The psoriasis market has expanded significantly over the past decade. Globally, the market is valued at ~$12 billion to $15 billion and continues to grow as newer biologics gain adoption and patient expectations shift toward more complete and durable skin clearance.
Treatment options today span a broad spectrum, including topicals (steroids, vitamin D analogues) for mild disease; oral systemic agents like Otezla and traditional therapies such as methotrexate; and biologics targeting IL-17, IL-23 and TNF-α, which have set new efficacy benchmarks for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.
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