Dovonex (calcipotriene) for psoriasis has been available for over a decade. Altough effective for some patients, the drug is notoriously slow in achieving clearing of psoriasis. Almost as soon as it was released, doctors were using it in combination with corticosteroid creams to help speed up results.
One difficulty with these combinations is that the calcipotriene ingredient was not stable at the same pH as the corticosteroid ingredient, hence applying both creams together reduced the effectiveness. This necessitated in all sorts of treatment schedules such as Dovonex weekdays and corticosteroid creams weekends or Dovonex in the morning and corticosteroid creams at night. The stability problem has been overcome and now both drugs have been combined into a single, once-daily ointment called Taclonex.
Taclonex is indicated for the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris in adults. It shouldn't be applied to the face, armpits or groin because it does contain a potent corticosteroid ingredient. The once-daily, as-needed dosing schedule is more convenient than most other topical medications for psoriasis.
