Complete Psoriasis Clearance at Year 1 Sustained to Year 4 for Majority on Bimekizumab

Richard Warren, MD

Credit: International Psoriasis Council

Approximately 90% of individuals with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis treated with bimekizumab (Bimezelx) who had also achieved 90% clearance at the 1-year mark sustained these improvements to the 4-year mark, according to data presented at the 2024 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress in Amsterdam.¹

These findings and others were presented by the biopharmaceutical company UCB, highlighting the potential benefits of bimekizumab, a drug formulated as a dual inhibitor of interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F. These data on bimekizumab were the results of post-hoc analyses into maintenance of response to this medication.

“Given the chronic nature of psoriasis, it is critically important to evaluate long-term response of treatments,” said Richard Warren, MD, professor and director of the Dermatopharmacology Unit at the University of Manchester, said in a statement. “Achieving completely clear skin is a key goal for people living with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis and results presented at EADV 2024 showed that over 7 out of 10 patients who achieved complete skin clearance after one year, maintained this response at four years.”¹

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease which is common among both men and women of all ethnicities and age groups, impacting around 125 million people in the world. It is characterized by red skin patches with silvery-white scales, cracked dry skin that can even bleed, and other related symptoms.

In the aforementioned post-hoc analyses, investigators highlighted the results seen among patients with psoriasis who shifted to bimekizumab following the showing of inadequate response to other therapies such as ustekinumab, adalimumab, or secukinumab. They also presented the design and rationale for the phase 3b BE UNIQUE study, evaluating the durability, onset, and molecular responses of this medication among those with psoriatic disease.

Among the key findings announced by UCB, findings from the pivotal BE VIVID, BE SURE, BE READY trials, in addition to the BE BRIGHT OLE open-label extension, were presented at EADV. Among those who switched to bimekizumab following a reportedly inadequate response to ustekinumab, adalimumab, or secukinumab, such subjects had significant improvements in their psoriasis noted by the research team.

One such finding was that 41.9% of those in the adalimumab-treated cohort were unsuccessful in achieving PASI90 prior switching, but 92.2% achieved PASI90 and 74.4% achieved PASI100 following a 176-week course of bimekizumab therapy. Comparable results were also noted by the presenters with secukinumab and ustekinumab, given the significant improvements observed PASI scores following the bimekizumab switch.

Those presenting the 4-year efficacy findings also highlighted the safety profile of bimekizumab observed in these studies, with the results suggesting stability or decreased adverse events with prolonged medication utilization. They added that there were no new safety concerns that the investigators could identify.

Commonly-observed side effects linked with use of bimekizumab include oral candidiasis and upper respiratory tract infections. Additionally, there are certain elderly patients who have the potential to be more susceptible to various reactions, some of which include dermatitis or eczema.

In the UCB announcement, the presenters also highlighted the ongoing phase 3b BE UNIQUE study’s design. It was conducted to evaluate the molecular and cellular changes seen with bimekizumab therapy in patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, looked at the gene expression of changes in subjects’ skin biopsies as their main endpoint.

“The four-year data presented at EADV 2024 demonstrate maintenance of complete skin clearance for patients continuing treatment with bimekizumab,” Fiona du Monceau, an executive vice president at UCB, concluded in a statement. “We are also proud to share the design of BE UNIQUE, a Phase 3b study investigating whether the durability of clinical response with bimekizumab is associated with molecular and cellular changes in skin, blood and joints of patients with psoriatic disease.”¹

References

1. ^{UCB presents new 4-year data for BIMZELX (bimekizumab) in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis at EADV 2024. UCB. October 25, 2024. https://www.ucb.com/stories-media/Press-Releases/article/UCB-presents-new-4-year-data-for-BIMZELXRVbimekizumab-in-moderate-to-severe-plaque-psoriasis-at-EADV-2024. Date accessed: October 3, 2024.}