For patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, self-injection of bimekizumab is safe and effective using a safety syringe or auto-injector, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology .

Jerry Bagel, M.D., from the Psoriasis Treatment Center for Central New Jersey in East Windsor, and colleagues examined patients' ability to self-inject bimekizumab subcutaneously using a safety syringe or auto-injector. Patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis received bimekizumab injections every four or eight weeks and were then randomly assigned to safety syringe or auto-injector in a 1:1 ratio. Patients' ability to safely and effectively self-inject bimekizumab was examined at eight weeks and immediately after self-injection training (baseline).

The researchers found that at week 8, all 125 and 86 evaluable patients from two substudies (DV0002 and DV0006, respectively) of the BE BRIGHT multicenter phase 3 study safely and effectively self-injected bimekizumab. At baseline, all 64 patients from DV0002 who used the safety syringe and 97.1 percent of the 68 who used the auto-injector and all 88 evaluable patients from DV0006 also self-injected bimekizumab safely and effectively. Across both devices, substudies, and timepoints, median visual analog scale scores for pain were low, and median preinjection and postinjection Self-Injection Assessment Questionnaire scores were high.

"By providing both options, patients have the choice to use the device that best suits their preferences on the level of control over the self-injection process," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including UCB Pharma, which manufactures bimekizumab; UCB Pharma funded the study.

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