June 2024

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor neutralisation in patients with axial spondyloarthritis in the UK (NAMASTE): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial

Lancet Rheumatol 2024:S2665-9913(24)00099-7 DOI 10.1016/S2665-9913(24)00099-7 Epub ahead of print

Worth, et al. found that namilumab did not show efficacy compared with placebo in patients with active axSpA, but the treatment was generally well tolerated. An unusually high proportion of ASAS20 responders at Week 12 were observed in the placebo group, which had a small sample size compared to the namilumab arm.

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Does obesity affect treatment response to secukinumab and survival in ankylosing spondylitis? Real-life data from the TURKBIO Registry

Modern Rheumatology. 2024;34(3):584–91 doi: 10.1093/mr/road061

This study by Karakas, et al. found that obesity did not affect secukinumab treatment response and drug retention in ankylosing spondylitis patients.

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Guselkumab demonstrates long-term efficacy and maintenance of treatment response postwithdrawal in systemic treatment-naïve patients and nonresponders to fumaric acid esters: Results from parts II and III of a randomized active-comparator-controlled Phase IIIb trial (POLARIS)

Br J Dermatol 2024;191:36–48 doi: 10.1093/bjd/ljad523

Thaçi, et al. show that guselkumab (GUS) had higher efficacy and a more tolerable safety profile compared with fumaric acid esters (FAE) in patients with moderate. Long-term efficacy through 100 weeks of treatment was seen with GUS as a first-line systemic treatment, and as a second-line systemic treatment in FAE nonresponders.

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Maintenance risankizumab sustains induction response in patients with Crohn’s disease in a randomized Phase 3 trial

J Crohns Colitis 2024;18:416–423 doi: 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjad168

Subcutaneous risankizumab maintenance therapy results in durable improvement in clinical and endoscopic outcomes over one year in patients with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease. Endpoint achievement tended to be achieved in a higher proportion of patients treated with 360mg risankizumab than 160mg risankizumab, and both doses were higher when compared to placebo.

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Efficacy and safety of ustekinumab for ulcerative colitis through 4 years: Final results of the UNIFI long-term maintenance study

Am J Gastroenterol. 2024;119:910–21 doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000002621

Long-term SC maintenance therapy of q8w and q12w ustekinumab in patients who responded to IV ustekinumab induction was safe and effective at maintaining symptomatic remission. Investigators aimed to present the final efficacy and safety results of the UNIFI LTE study through 4 years.

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The outcomes of children born to mothers with autoimmune rheumatic diseases

Lancet Rheumatol 2024:S2665-9913(24)00096-1 doi: 10.1016/S2665-9913(24)00096-1 Epub ahead of print

This Series paper by Andreoli, et al. provides a comprehensive overview of the literature for pregnancy outcomes for mothers with autoimmune rheumatic disease, and provides guidance on discussing these topics with patients. They also provide a list of frequently asked questions related to pregnancy and children by women with autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

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Durable Control of Psoriatic Arthritis with Guselkumab Across Domains and Patient Characteristics: Post Hoc Analysis of a Phase 3 study

Clin Rheumatol 2024 doi: 10.1007/s10067-024-06991-8 Epub ahead of print

Ritchlin et al. conducted a post hoc analysis of the DISCOVER-2 trial, evaluating the efficacy of guselkumab in biologic-naïve patients with PsA. Guselkumab provided durable disease control across key PsA domains and PROs over 2 years, regardless of baseline characteristics. A significant proportion of patients achieved stringent endpoints such as ACR50/70, complete skin clearance, and resolution of dactylitis/enthesitis.

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A disease-associated gene desert directs macrophage inflammation through ETS2

Nature 2024 doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07501-1 Epub ahead of print

Stankey, et al. used functional genomics to show that the ETS2 gene is a central regulator of human inflammatory macrophages. They also found that ETS2 was disrupted by JAK inhibitors and MEK inhibitors, with multiple MEK inhibitors being shown to downregulate ETS2-target genes.

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Improved physical functioning, sleep, work productivity and overall health-related quality of life with bimekizumab in patients with axial spondyloarthritis: Results from two Phase 3 studies

Journal Reference: RMD Open 2024;10:e004202 doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2024-004202

Bimekizumab (BKZ) treatment led to early improvements in physical function, sleep, work productivity, and overall health-related quality of life at Week 16 in patients across the full axSpA disease spectrum, which were sustained through Week 52. Dubreuil et al. investigated treatment impact over one year using BASFI, MOS-Sleep-R, SF-36 PCS/MCS, WPAI:axSpA, and ASQoL scores in patients with both non-radiographic and radiographic axSpA.

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Efficacy of brodalumab in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis after failure of previous biologic therapy: A phase 4, multicenter, open-label study

J Am Acad Dermatol 2024;90:1254–1256 doi 10.1016/j.jaad.2024.01.025

In this letter to the editor, Papp, et al. reported that brodalumab treatment in patients with psoriasis and an inadequate response to another biologic resulted in high rates of complete skin clearance with concurrent improvements in patient-reported outcomes after 26 weeks. The mean and median times to PASI 100 were 96.8 and 112 days, respectively.

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