PsA Treatment Provides Modest Benefits to Lesions, Musculoskeletal Symptoms

Abatacept is well tolerated among patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and provides a modest benefit for psoriasis lesions, according to a recent study.

For their study, the researchers assessed patients with active PsA. Patients were randomly assigned to receive blinded weekly subcutaneous 125 mg abatacept (n = 213) or placebo (n = 211) for 24 weeks, followed by open-label subcutaneous abatacept. Patients who did not experience 20% or more improvement in joint counts at week 16 were switched to open label abatacept.
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The researchers defined the primary outcome as the number of patients who demonstrated 20% or more improvement in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR20) criteria at week 24.

Results indicated that ACR20 response was significantly increased at week 24 among patients receiving abatacept, compared with patients receiving placebo. Abatacept numerically increased Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index response rates at week 24, but improvements were not statistically significant.

Ultimately, although the benefits of abatacept were observed in ACR20 responses regardless of exposure to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and in other musculoskeletal manifestations, the significance of these benefits could not be attributed due to ranking below Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index response in hierarchical testing. However, abatacept provided a modest benefit for psoriasis lesions, and efficacy was maintained or improved up to week 52.

Additionally, the researchers noted that abatacept was well tolerated among patients with no new safety signals.

“Abatacept treatment of PsA in this phase III study achieved its primary end point, ACR20 response, showed beneficial trends overall in musculoskeletal manifestations and was well tolerated,” the researchers concluded. “There was only a modest impact on psoriasis lesions.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Mease PJ, Gottlieb AB, van der Heijde D, et al. Efficacy and safety of abatacept, a T-cell modulator, in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III study in psoriatic arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017;76(9):1550-1558. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2016-210724.