Taltz effective at complete skin clearance in patients with plaque psoriasis
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Taltz was found to be more effective at improving signs and symptoms among patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis than Tremfya, according to a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, phase 4 study.
“Ixekizumab was compared with guselkumab in a new head-to-head blinded study,” Andrew Blauvelt, MD, MBA, president of the Oregon Medical Research Center in Portland, told Healio. “Over the first 12 weeks of the comparison, ixekizumab beat guselkumab in all efficacy parameters measured.”
Patients for the IXORA-R study were allocated to treatment by a computer-generated random sequence and assigned to subcutaneous injections of Taltz (ixekizumab, Eli Lilly) or Tremfya (guselkumab, Janssen). For ixekizumab, patients received a 160 mg starting dose at week 0 followed by 80 mg every 2 weeks from weeks 2 to 12. For guselkumab, patients received 100 mg injections at weeks 0, 4 and 12 and received a placebo injection at weeks 0, 2, 6, 8 and 10 to maintain blinding.
Of the 1,027 patients randomly assigned for treatment (mean age, 49 years; 37% women), Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 100 was achieved in 41% of patients in the ixekizumab group compared with 25% in the guselkumab group (OR = 2.14; 95% CI, 1.63-2.81). Significantly more patients in the ixekizumab group achieved a PASI 50 response at week 1 than patients in the guselkumab group (28% vs. 9%; OR = 4.73; 3.13-7.13) and a PASI 75 response at week 2 (23% vs. 5%; OR = 6.26; 95% CI, 3.89-10.08).
The results for complete clearance measured by static Physician’s Global Assessment of Disease was a score of 0 achieved by 42% of patients assigned ixekizumab compared with 25% of patients assigned guselkumab.
“The results were not unexpected, given that secukinumab (Cosentyx, Novartis), a drug similar to ixekizumab, also beat guselkumab at the week 12 timepoint in a recent head-to-head study,” Blauvelt said. “In that study, however, guselkumab efficacy surpassed secukinumab efficacy over weeks 24 to 52. Because of that, it will be very interesting to see how ixekizumab holds up over time against guselkumab.” – by Erin T. Welsh
Disclosures: Blauvelt reports he has served as a scientific adviser and/or clinical study investigator for AbbVie, Aclaris, Almirall, Arena, Athenex, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dermavant, Dermira, Eli Lilly and Co., FLX Bio, Forte, Galderma, Janssen, Leo, Novartis, Ortho, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sandoz, Sanofi Genzyme, Sun Pharma, UCB Pharma and as a paid speaker for AbbVie. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.