Positive results seen with bimekizumab in patients with PsA

According to data presented at the EULAR Annual Congress, bimekizumab showed rapid onset, was effective for disease activity in the skin and joints, and was well tolerated by patients with psoriatic arthritis.

“The take-home message of this study is that blocking [interleukin] IL-17F in addition to IL-17A may have the potential to induce rapid and profound joint and skin responses in [psoriatic arthritis] PsA,” Dominique L. Baeten, MD, PhD, professor at the Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at the Academy Medical Center at the University of Amsterdam, told Healio.com/Rheumatology.

Baeten and colleagues identified 52 patients with PsA and randomized 38 patients to receive bimekizumab (UCB4940) and 14 patients to receive placebo. At week 0, investigators studied four active dose-level groups with a simple loading dose of bimekizumab. Investigators then administered more doses of bimekizumab at weeks 3 and 6.

Dominique L. Baeten

Results showed that by week 8, there was a rapid onset of response in both the skin and joints with an 80% ACR20 response rate observed in the three doses vs. a 17% rate in patients who received placebo. Baeten and colleagues noted clinically relevant responses for measures of disease activity at week 20.

According to researchers, all bimekizumab doses were well-tolerated. None of the patients stopped treatment for treatment-emergent adverse events, and there were no serious treatment-related adverse events. – by Monica Jaramillo

Reference:

Baeten DL, et al. Abstract #OP0108. Presented at: EULAR Annual Congress; June 8-11, 2016; London.

Disclosures: Baeten reports research support from Abbvie, Pfizer, Merck Sharp & Dohme, UCB, Novartis and Boehringer Ingelheim; and is a consultant for AbbVie, Pfizer, Merck Sharp & Dohme, UCB, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Please see the full abstract for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.