Study Compares Biologics for Long-Term Treatment of Psoriasis
By Dermsquared Editorial Team | July 06, 2022
Among biologics, the highest drug survival for effectiveness for psoriasis was seen for guselkumab, according to a study published online July 6 in JAMA Dermatology to coincide with the annual meeting of the British Association of Dermatologists, held from July 5 to 7 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Zenas Z. N. Yiu, Ph.D., from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and colleagues used data from the British Association of Dermatologists Biologics and Immunomodulators Register between November 2007 and August 2021 to examine drug survival associated with the effectiveness and safety of commonly used biologics for psoriasis. Data were included for 16,122 treatment courses: 41.0, 33.5, 16.6, 4.5, and 4.4 percent in which treatment with adalimumab, ustekinumab, secukinumab, guselkumab, and ixekizumab, respectively, was initiated.
The researchers found that for measures of effectiveness for treatment, crude survival functions at one year were 0.81, 0.89, 0.86, 0.94, and 0.86 for adalimumab, ustekinumab, secukinumab, guselkumab, and ixekizumab, respectively. For the multivariable model for effectiveness, the adjusted survival curves showed that guselkumab had higher survival, while adalimumab had lower survival (adjusted hazard ratios, 0.13 and 2.37, respectively). Effect modifiers for survival in association with treatment effectiveness included psoriatic arthritis, previous biologic exposure, nail involvement, and ethnicity. For safety, the crude survival functions at one year were 0.91, 0.94, 0.94, 0.96, and 0.92 for adalimumab, ustekinumab, secukinumab, guselkumab, and ixekizumab, respectively. Similar adjusted survival curves for safety were seen for guselkumab, ustekinumab, and secukinumab, while lower survival was seen for adalimumab and ixekizumab.
"This information on longer-term treatment effects, safety, and tolerability, along with other factors, such as background comorbidities and patient values, may help patients and their clinicians make an informed decision to initiate treatment with a particular biologic therapy," the authors write.
The British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Register Ltd., a registered company within the British Association of Dermatologists, receives income from several pharmaceutical companies.