For patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, bimekizumab is noninferior and superior to secukinumab and adalimumab, according to two studies published online April 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the American Academy of Dermatology VMX 2021 meeting, held virtually from April 23 to 25.

Kristian Reich, M.D., Ph.D., from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, and colleagues randomly assigned patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis to receive either bimekizumab every four weeks (373 patients) or secukinumab (weekly to week 4, then every four weeks; 370 patients). At week 16, patients receiving bimekizumab were rerandomized to receive maintenance dosing every four weeks or every eight weeks. The researchers found that 61.7 and 48.9 percent of patients in the bimekizumab and secukinumab groups, respectively, had a 100 percent reduction from baseline in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score (PASI 100; adjusted risk difference, 12.7 percentage points).

Richard B. Warren, M.D., from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and colleagues randomly assigned patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis to receive subcutaneous bimekizumab (320 mg every four weeks to 56 weeks; 158 patients), bimekizumab (320 mg every four weeks for 16 weeks, then every eight weeks to 56 weeks; 161 patients), or subcutaneous adalimumab (40 mg every two weeks for 24 weeks) followed by bimekizumab (320 mg every four weeks to week 56; 159 patients). One of the primary end points was PASI 90 response. The researchers found that 86.2 percent of patients from both dose groups who received bimekizumab had a PASI 90 response compared with 47.2 percent of those receiving adalimumab (adjusted risk difference, 39.3 percent).

"Longer, larger trials are required to determine the efficacy and safety of bimekizumab for the treatment of psoriasis," Warren and colleagues write.

Several authors from both studies disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including UCB Pharma, which manufactures bimekizumab and funded both studies.

Abstract/Full Text - Reich (subscription or payment may be required)

Abstract/Full Text - Warren (subscription or payment may be required)