Psoriasis Drug Safe, Effective for 2-Year Use

The high-affinity monoclonal antibody ixekizumab is safe and effective for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis through 108 weeks, according to the results of the UNCOVER-3 study.

These findings update those of previous trials, which had initially demonstrated that ixekizumab was effective through 60 weeks.
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For their study, the researchers assessed 1346 patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Each patient was randomly assigned to receive either 80 mg ixekizumab every 2 weeks, 80 mg ixekizumab every 4 weeks, 50 mg etanercept twice weekly, or placebo. At week 12, patients switched to ixekizumab every 4 weeks over the course of a long-term extension period.

As-observed, multiple imputation (MI), and modified MI (mMI) models were used to summarize efficacy data.

A total of 385 patients had received the recommended dose of ixekizumab every 2 weeks from baseline to week 12 and every 4 weeks during the long-term extension period. Results indicated that, among patients who had achieved at least 75% improvement from baseline in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, the 108-week as-observed response rate was 93.4%, the MI response rate was 88.3%, and the mMI response rate was 83.6%.

Additionally, in patients with a static Physician's Global Assessment score of 0 or 1, the the 108-week as-observed response rate was 82.6%, the MI response rate was 78.3%, and the mMI response rate was 74.1%.

“Ixekizumab is well tolerated and demonstrates persistent efficacy through 108 weeks,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Blauvelt A, Gooderham M, Iversen L, et al. Efficacy and safety of ixekizumab for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis: results through 108 weeks of a randomized, controlled phase 3 clinical trial (UNCOVER-3). J Am Acad Dermatol. 2017;77(5):855-862. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2017.06.153.