Véronique Gaudet, MS

Credit: LinkedIn

Treatment with brodalumab—a human anti‐interleukin (IL)-17 receptor antibody—for plaque psoriasis is efficacious and has high continuation rates in patients, according to recent findings.^1,2

Around 125 million individuals around the world have psoriasis, and many face significant morbidity and increased rates of conditions such as cardiometabolic diseases, inflammatory arthritis, and mental health disorders, suggesting the need for further treatment research.³

The findings were the result of a study done in a real-world, routine care setting in Canada and the research was led by Véronique Gaudet, MS, from Bausch Health, Canada Inc., in Quebec.

Prior genetic and immunological studies have indicated that IL-17 and IL-23 are key drivers of the chronic skin condition’s pathogenesis, and immune targeting of these cytokines through biologic therapies has led to dramatic improvements in management of the condition.⁴

The research was conducted to “examine real-world effectiveness of brodalumab in Canadian routine care with a focus on clinician and patient-reported outcomes, as well as measuring continuation rates and persistence.”

Background and Findings

The investigators conducted a retrospective analysis of data that they collected through the Canadian brodalumab patient support program (PSP) in the time span between June of 2018 and June of 2020.

The research team’s analysis involved the recruitment of 864 total study participants, 59% of whom were reported as male, with a median age of 52 years. These participants initiated brodalumab treatment and had a minimum of 16 weeks of follow-up from the first dose.

The team assessed the effectiveness of treating psoriasis patients with brodalumab using specific measures such as Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), Body Surface Area (BSA), and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and reported the continuation rates and persistence of therapy.

Overall, the investigators reported their observation that there were substantial improvements in patients' PASI, BSA, and DLQI scores. Specifically, they found that BSA improved from 16.6% to 2.5%, PASI scores improved from 13.9 to 1.8, and DLQI scores improved from 16.2 to 2.9.

The research team also noted that continuation rates for brodalumab were high, at 89.9%, and rates were similar for both biologic-naïve and biologic-experienced participants (92.1% and 88.6%, respectively).

They were also similar in participants who received secukinumab or ixekizumab as their most recent biologic therapy (89.0% and 86.2%, respectively).

Additionally, the team reported that persistence rates for brodalumab at 6, 12, and 18 months were found to be 82.0%, 69.9%, and 63.4%, respectively. These findings indicate that brodalumab may be an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for those with psoriasis.

“High continuation rates were achieved; including in patients previously treated with IL-17A inhibitors,” they wrote. “Future studies will provide further evidence of brodalumab’s benefits for the management of plaque psoriasis in the real-world setting.”

References

1. ^{Gaudet V, Yap B, Hassan S, Barbeau M. Brodalumab for Plaque Psoriasis: A Canadian Real-World Experience at 2-Years Post-Launch. Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery. 2023;0(0). doi:10.1177/12034754231168851.}
2. ^{Armstrong AW., Read C. Pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and treatment of psoriasis: a review. JAMA. 2020;323(19):1945-1960.doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4006.}
3. ^{KA Papp, K Reich, C Paul, et al. A prospective phase III, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study of brodalumab in patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis, British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 175, Issue 2, 1 August 2016, Pages 273–286, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.14493.}
4. ^{Griffiths CEM., Armstrong AW., Gudjonsson JE., Barker JNWN. Psoriasis. Lancet. 2021;397(10281):1301-1315.doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32549-6.}