Self-administering bimekizumab via syringe, auto-injector sees similar success, safety
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Psoriasis patients who self-administer bimekizumab experienced similar levels of comfort and success with both safety syringes and auto-injectors, according to two studies.
“This multicenter study looked at how people did with a 1 mL safety syringe, the typical, old-fashioned syringes people are used to, vs. an autoinjector, which is a larger apparatus, but is very easy to use by just pressing a button,” Jerry Bagel, MD, MS, of the Psoriasis Treatment Center of Central New Jersey and the paper’s lead author, told Healio.
Sub-studies of the phase 3 open-label extension BE BRIGHT study, the DV0002 and DV0006 studies valuated the safety and efficacy of self-administered bimekizumab, as well as patient satisfaction and experience.
Patients received 320 mg of bimekizumab every 4 or 8 weeks, depending on disease severity. They were randomly assigned to use either a safety syringe or an auto-injector and were trained for self-injection with the respective device they received.
Of the 134 patients in the DV0002 study, 66 received the safety syringe and 68 received the auto-injector. Of 88 patients in the DV0006 study, 45 received the safety syringe and 43 received the auto-injector.
All evaluable patients in both studies (DV0002, n = 125; DV0006, n = 86) were able to safely use both the safety syringe and the auto-injector at week 8.
“We looked at how people responded to the treatment in regard to the syringes and interestingly everyone, 100%, liked the old one, but also about 98% liked the new one as well,” Bagel said.
Eight injection site reactions were recorded in DV0002, with four in each study arm. One injection site reaction in the safety syringe group was recorded in the DV0006 trial.
Pain scores were low and comparable in both the auto-injector and safety syringe groups.
“The data we saw with our clinical trials was that both are equally effective,” Bagel said. “People liked both, which is great because that means they have the option.”
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