Orin Goldblum

Efficacy and safety of adalimumab across subgroups of patients with moderate to severe psoriasis

BACKGROUND The phase III randomized controlled evaluation of adalimumab every other week dosing in moderate to severe psoriasis trial (REVEAL) demonstrated adalimumab induced significant improvements and was well tolerated for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. OBJECTIVE We sought to determine the efficacy and safety of adalimumab for various subgroups of patients in REVEAL with moderate to severe psoriasis and to determine whether these profiles were consistent with the overall results. METHODS Patients (N = 1212) with moderate to severe psoriasis were randomized to adalimumab or placebo during the first 16 weeks of the trial. The primary efficacy endpoint was percentage of patients achieving at least 75% improvement in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score at week 16. Post hoc subgroup analyses were conducted to determine relationships between adalimumab efficacy and/or safety and age group, sex, race, baseline weight intervals, baseline body mass index, disease duration, baseline severity, prior treatments, and comorbidities. RESULTS Consistent 75% or greater improvement in the PASI score responses were observed across all patient subgroups, with moderately reduced responses noted for patients in the greater weight and body mass index categories. A multivariate analysis identified treatment received, weight, and age as the most influential factors for mean percentage change in PASI score at week 16. No significant differences in the risk of serious adverse events in adalimumab- versus placebo-treated patients were observed across weight categories or for patients with baseline comorbidities. LIMITATIONS These subanalyses are limited by their relatively short, 16-week duration. CONCLUSION Treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis with adalimumab led to consistent 75% or greater improvement in PASI score response rates across the majority of patient subgroups, with no significant differences in serious adverse events.

Factors affecting sleep quality in patients with psoriasis

Poor sleep quality adversely affects quality of life in patients with psoriasis. However, the factors impairing sleep in these patients have not been well described. We reviewed the available literature linking sleep quality and psoriasis to elucidate factors that interfere with sleep. Pruritus, depression, pain, and obstructive sleep apnea may be likely sources of sleep impairment in patients with psoriasis. Fatigue resulting from sleep interference may also be implicated in this relationship. Pruritus, depression, and pain interfere with sleep quality by increasing nocturnal awakenings and sleep fragmentation. Obstructive sleep apnea may occur in a greater percentage of patients with psoriasis than control populations. Factors associated with psoriasis appear to have similarities in their cytokine and neuropeptide profiles. Moreover, these variables are complex and interconnected. Further study and awareness of potential factors impacting sleep in patients with psoriasis may provide new avenues for treatment of recalcitrant disease.

Neonatal citrullinemia associated with cutaneous manifestations and arginine deficiency

A patient with neonatal citrullinemia (argininosuccinic acid synthetase deficiency), a heritable disorder of the urea cycle, developed a generalized cutaneous eruption at 35 days of age. The skin lesions consisted of erosive, erythematous, scaling patches and plaques. The plasma arginine concentration at that time was low. After treatment with oral arginine supplements, the cutaneous lesions rapidly resolved and the plasma arginine concentration normalized. Histologic features of pretreated lesions included parakeratosis, crust formation, absence of a granular cell layer, pallor of the upper epidermal cells, and a mild, superficial, perivascular, mononuclear-cell infiltrate. Since the patients skin lesions responded to arginine supplements, and since arginine is a component of keratin, we postulate that the skin lesions are the result of arginine deficiency.

Improvement of scalp and nail lesions with ixekizumab in a phase 2 trial in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis

Scalp and nail psoriasis have a major impact on quality of life and are traditionally resistant to therapy. Ixekizumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets IL‐17A, a key cytokine in psoriasis pathogenesis.

Influence of psoriatic arthritis on the efficacy of adalimumab and on the treatment response of other markers of psoriasis burden: subanalysis of the BELIEVE study

BACKGROUND Adalimumab is a fully human anti-TNF monoclonal antibody with demonstrated efficacy and safety in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). OBJECTIVE This study examined the effect of PsA on adalimumab treatment response in patients from the Phase IIIb BELIEVE trial (NCT00574249, ClinicalTrials.gov registry), and response of other markers of disease burden to adalimumab treatment. METHODS In this post hoc analysis, patients with or without a history of PsA and with moderate to severe psoriasis were randomized to adalimumab plus adjunctive topical therapy (calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate) or monotherapy (adalimumab plus matching topical vehicle). RESULTS Regardless of baseline PsA, improvement at Week 16 was seen in PASI 75, pruritus, PSSI, and DLQI (all patients), and mean NAPSI scores. Patients with PsA had HAQ improvement at Week 16, and compared to patients without PsA, had higher VAS pain scores. This analysis represents the first publication of the influence of PsA and PsA plus body weight on patient response to adalimumab, and response of scalp psoriasis, nail psoriasis, and patient-reported outcomes to adalimumab. The incidence of AEs was similar among all patients (62%), those with PsA (65%) and without PsA (60%). The most common AEs were infections (27%); 4.2% of all patients reported serious AEs. CONCLUSION Adalimumab treatment resulted in comprehensive, clinically relevant improvements from baseline PsA status, in skin, nails, quality of life, pain and pruritus. Despite having more severely affected disease and quality of life, patients with PsA did not respond to adalimumab significantly differently from patients without PsA.

Ixekizumab treatment improves fingernail psoriasis in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis: results from the randomized, controlled and open-label phases of UNCOVER-3.

Fingernail psoriasis is difficult to treat.

Sustained response with ixekizumab treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis with scalp involvement: results from three phase 3 trials (UNCOVER-1, UNCOVER-2, UNCOVER-3)

Abstract Background: Scalp is a frequently affected and difficult-to-treat area in psoriasis patients. Objective: We assessed the efficacy of ixekizumab in the treatment of patients with scalp psoriasis over 60 weeks using the Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index (PSSI). Methods: In three Phase 3, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis in UNCOVER-1 (N = 1296), UNCOVER-2 (N = 1224) and UNCOVER-3 (N = 1346) were randomized to subcutaneous 80 mg ixekizumab every two weeks (Q2W) or every four weeks (Q4W) after a 160 mg starting dose, or placebo through Week 12. Additional UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3 cohorts were randomized to 50 mg bi-weekly etanercept through Week 12. Patients entering the open-label long-term extension (LTE) (UNCOVER-3) received ixekizumab Q4W; UNCOVER-1 and UNCOVER-2 included a blinded maintenance period in which static physician global assessment (sPGA) 0/1 responders were re-randomized to placebo, ixekizumab Q4W, or 80 mg ixekizumab every 12 weeks (Q12W) through Week 60. Results: In patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis with baseline scalp involvement, PSSI 90 and 100 were achieved at Week 12 in higher percentages of patients treated with ixekizumab Q2W (81.7% and 74.6%) or ixekizumab Q4W (75.6% and 68.9%) compared with patients treated with placebo (7.6% and 6.7%; p < .001 each ixekizumab arm versus placebo) or etanercept (55.5% and 48.1%; p < .001 each ixekizumab arm versus etanercept). These outcomes were maintained through Week 60 of the maintenance (UNCOVER-1 and UNCOVER-2) and LTE (UNCOVER-3) period in patients who continued on ixekizumab Q4W. Conclusion: Ixekizumab was efficacious in treating scalp psoriasis in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, with most patients achieving complete or near-complete resolution of scalp psoriasis and maintaining this response over 60 weeks.

Patient Characteristics, Health Care Resource Utilization, and Costs Associated with Treatment-Regimen Failure with Biologics in the Treatment of Psoriasis.

BACKGROUND Psoriasis is a chronic, incurable, and immune-mediated skin disorder that is characterized by erythematous scaly papules and plaques. Understanding of psoriasis at the molecular level has led to the development of biologic agents that target disease-specific inflammatory mediators in psoriatic lesions. Biologic agents have become important components of the psoriasis armamentarium, but some patients become refractory to these agents over time or fail to respond to subsequent biologics. OBJECTIVES To (a) evaluate demographic and clinical characteristics of psoriasis patients who have treatment patterns suggestive of failure to a newly initiated biologic agent (treatment-regimen failures) compared with those who do not (non-treatment-regimen failures) and (b) to assess health care-related resource utilization and costs in non-treatment-regimen failures and treatment-regimen failures. METHODS In this retrospective observational cohort study, patients were selected from the MarketScan claims database of commercially insured individuals and individuals with Medicare supplemental insurance. The index event was a newly initiated biologic agent for the treatment of psoriasis (etanercept, adalimumab, ustekinumab, or infliximab) between January 2010 and December 2011. The analysis included psoriasis patients aged ≥ 18 years with ≥ 1 prescription claim for a biologic and continuous enrollment 12 months pre- and post-index date. Patients with claims for a biologic in the pre-index period were excluded. Patients were divided into treatment-regimen-failure and non-treatment-regimen-failure groups based on their treatment patterns post-index date. The treatment-regimen-failure group included patients who switched to another biologic, discontinued the biologic without restarting, increased the dose of the biologic, or augmented treatment with a nontopical psoriasis medication during the post-index period. Between-group patient characteristics and medication use were compared using analysis of variance for continuous variables and chi-square tests for categorical variables without adjustment. Cost differences were compared using the propensity score-adjusted bin bootstrapping method. RESULTS Overall, 2,146 patients met the enrollment criteria. The mean age was 45.1 years. Of these patients, 41.5% were considered treatment-regimen failures. Among treatment-regimen failures, 53% were females, and among non-treatment-regimen failures, 61% were male. Patients who experienced treatment-regimen failure had higher incidences of comorbid cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, chronic pulmonary disease, depression, and anxiety in the pre-index period and were more likely to use concomitant topicals (67.0% vs. 58.4%; P < 0.001), methotrexate (20.2% vs. 7.3%; P < 0.001), and cyclosporine (3.1% vs. 1.0%; P < 0.001) in the post-index period. Mean total all-cause health care costs were higher in patients with treatment-regimen failure versus non-treatment-regimen failure during the pre-index period (

Healthcare costs in psoriasis and psoriasis sub-groups over time following psoriasis diagnosis

8,024 vs.

Ixekizumab treatment shows a neutral impact on cardiovascular parameters in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis: Results from UNCOVER-1, UNCOVER-2, and UNCOVER-3

6,637; P = 0.002), but patients with non-treatment-regimen failure had higher all-cause costs (