The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CNTO 1275 in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Although numerous therapeutic options exist for the treatment of psoriasis, significant unmet medical needs for effective therapies with limited toxicity and side effects. Preclinical studies and early phase clinical studies suggest that interleukins-12 and -23, two molecules that are part of the communication network in the immune system, may play an important role in psoriasis. This is a randomized (patients are assigned different treatments based on chance), double blind (neither the patient nor the physician knows whether drug or placebo is being taken, or at what dosage), parallel-group, multicenter study to determine the effectiveness and safety of two different doses of CNTO 1275 administered subcutaneously (under the skin) as compared with placebo in patients with moderate to severe plaque-type psoriasis (the most common type of psoriasis). The hypothesis is that CNTO 1275 will be more effective in treatment of psoriasis than placebo, that the improvement in psoriasis will result in an improved quality of life for treated patients and that CNTO 1275 will be generally well tolerated. Patients will be randomized to long term extension of the study during which subjects will continue to receive treatment with CNTO 1275 and will be followed for a total of up to 264 weeks from the initial (week 0) administration of study agent. This study will remain blinded through the Week 76 database lock.

The dose of CNTO 1275 will be 45 or 90 mg administered subcutaneously at weeks 0 and 4 weeks then every 12 weeks thereafter. For patients who partially respond to the starting regimen, the dosing interval may be adjusted to every 8 weeks.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Plaque-type psoriasis diagnosed > 6 months prior
• Plaque-type psoriasis covering at least 10% of total body surface areas
• Psoriasis area-and-severity index score of >=12
• Considered by treating dermatologist to be a candidate for phototherapy or systemic treatment of psoriasis
• Women of childbearing potential and all men must agree to use adequate birth controlmeasures
• Have no history of latent or active TB

Exclusion Criteria:

• Currently have nonplaque forms of psoriasis or drug-induced psoriasis
• Women who are pregnant or nursing, or men and women planning pregnancy while enrolled in the study
• Patients who have any therapeutic agent targeted at reducing IL-12 or IL-23
• Patients who have had a BCG vaccination within the previous 12 months
• Patients who have a history of chronic or recurrent infectious disease or who have or have had a serious infection requiring hospitalization or intravenous antibiotics within the previous 2 months
• Patients who have or ever have had a nontuberculous mycobacterial infection or opportunistic infection
• Subjects known to be infected with human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C
• Patients who have current signs or symptoms of severe, progressive, or uncontrolled renal, hepatic, hematological, gastrointestinal, endocrine, pulmonary, cardiac, neurologic, cerebral, or psychiatric disease
• Patients with a malignancy or who have a history of malignancy (with the exception of certain skin cancers and pre-invasive cervical cancer)
• Patients participating in another trial using an investigational agent or procedure.Systemic immunosuppressants within 4 weeks of the first administration of study agent