Is Cosentyx (secukinumab) safe in pregnancy?
Cosentyx (secukinumab) is a biologic used for inflammatory conditions. Whether it should be avoided during pregnancy depends on your specific diagnosis, your disease severity, and how well your symptoms are controlled. The main clinical concern is balancing potential fetal risks from the medication against the risks of uncontrolled maternal disease.
What do experts typically recommend—stop it or continue?
For many autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, clinicians often try to prevent disease flares during pregnancy, because active disease can pose risks to both the pregnant person and fetus. That can mean continuing some effective therapies during pregnancy rather than stopping abruptly.
That said, secukinumab’s use in pregnancy is not the same as medicines with long pregnancy-track records, so decisions are usually individualized and made with a rheumatologist/dermatologist and your obstetric team.
Why would someone avoid Cosentyx during pregnancy?
People often consider avoiding Cosentyx during pregnancy because biologics can cross into fetal circulation at certain points in gestation (the extent varies by drug type), and because pregnancy safety data for secukinumab may be more limited than for older, more extensively studied therapies.
When might restarting or continuing make sense?
Continuing (or switching to) a pregnancy-compatible plan may be considered if stopping Cosentyx would likely cause a flare or loss of control. For conditions like psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, or ankylosing spondylitis, maintaining control can reduce complications associated with uncontrolled inflammation.
What alternatives are usually considered?
If Cosentyx is stopped, clinicians may discuss other treatments with more established pregnancy experience or better-documented safety profiles for the specific condition. The best alternative depends on what you’re treating (psoriasis vs. psoriatic arthritis vs. ankylosing spondylitis) and what has worked for you.
What should patients do before making a decision?
Don’t stop Cosentyx on your own. If you’re pregnant or planning pregnancy, contact your prescriber to create a pregnancy plan. Ask about:
- Whether disease control needs to be maintained through pregnancy
- Whether your treatment can be switched before conception or during pregnancy
- Any additional monitoring for you and the pregnancy if you continue therapy
Quick practical bottom line
Cosentyx is not automatically “always avoided” in pregnancy, but it is also not a one-size-fits-all choice. The decision should be individualized based on disease severity and available pregnancy safety data, with input from your obstetrician and your treating specialist.
Sources
No specific pregnancy-safety statements for Cosentyx were provided in the supplied information, so I did not cite any external sources.