Guselkumab improves PsA symptoms in 6-month real-world study

WAILEA, Hawaii — Patients with psoriatic arthritis treated with guselkumab for 6 months experienced a significant improvement in joint disease, skin disease and pain, according to a poster presented at the Maui Derm meeting.

“The phase 3 DISCOVER-1 and DISCOVER-2 trials of adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have demonstrated robust efficacy of guselkumab (Tremfya, Janssen), a fully human IL23p19 subunit inhibitor versus placebo in treating PsA signs and symptoms,” Philip J. Mease, MD, director of rheumatology research at Swedish Medical Center and clinical professor of rheumatology at University of Washington School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote.

This study used information from the CorEvitas PsA/Spondyloarthritis registry, a multicenter, prospective, observational registry of patients with rheumatologist-diagnosed PsA, to assess real-world patients with 6 months of follow-up.

Mean joint disease score reduced from 20.6 to 17 at 6-month follow up, whereas PGA scores went down from 40 to 23.8 on average. Body surface area coverage was reduced from a mean of 8 to 3.8, and pain was reduced on average from 55.2 to 48.5 in patients who persistently used guselkumab.

Low disease activity or remission was achieved by 27.5% of patients who used guselkumab on-label for 6 months.

“Patients with 6 months of persistent [guselkumab] use experienced statistically significant improvement in peripheral joint disease, skin disease and patient-reported pain, supporting clinical trial results demonstrating the benefit of [guselkumab] in improving signs and symptoms of PsA,” the authors wrote.