July 2024

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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Deucravacitinib onset of action and maintenance of response in Phase 3 plaque psoriasis trials

J Dermatolog Treat 2024;35:2371045 doi: 10.1080/09546634.2024.2371045

The analysis of the POETYK PSO-1 and POETYK PSO-2 clinical trials showed that deucravacitinib 6mg QD displayed efficacy as early as 1 week, and clinical responses were maintained over 52 weeks in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

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Mental health outcomes in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis treated with bimekizumab: Analysis of Phase 2/3 randomized trials

J Am Acad Dermatol 2024;91:72–81 doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2024.02.039

Results of this analysis by Blauvelt, et al. showed a low adjudicated suicidal ideation and behaviour (SIB) rate of 0.13/100 patient-years for bimekizumab, consistent with general psoriasis population ranges. Bimekizumab did not increase the risk of SIB compared to other anti-IL-17A/anti-IL-23 therapies.

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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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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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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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"I couldn't carry on taking a drug like that": A qualitative study of patient perspectives on side effects from rheumatology drugs

Journal Reference: Rheumatology 2024 Epub ahead of print

In the treatment of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), there is a need for feasible measures of patient-reported bother (impact on life and cumulative burden) from side effects and the benefit-harm-balance. Berthelsen et al. evaluated what with RMDs considered important to know about symptomatic side effects they may experience from a new prescription drug.

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Long-term safety and efficacy of upadacitinib versus adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: 5-year data from the Phase 3, randomised SELECT-COMPARE study

RMD Open 2024;10:e004007 doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2023-004007

More RA patients on upadacitinib versus adalimumab achieved clinical remission, LDA, and DAS28 (CRP) <2.6. Radiographic progression was less with continuous upadacitinib versus continuous adalimumab. Upadacitinib showed similar safety to adalimumab, with higher incidences of HZ, lymphopenia, CPK elevation, hepatic disorder and nonmelanoma skin cancer.

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Efficacy and safety of filgotinib for the treatment of perianal fistulising Crohn’s disease [DIVERGENCE 2]: A Phase 2, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

J Crohns Colitis 2024;18:864–74 doi: 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjae003

Filgotinib (FIL) 200mg was associated with numerical reductions in the number of draining perianal fistulas based on combined clinical and MRI findings compared with placebo. Reinisch et al. reported a numerically higher proportion of patients achieving the primary endpoint of a combined fistula response and/or remission at Week 24 with FIL 200mg compared with placebo.

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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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