During an interview with HCPLive, Joslyn R. Sciacca Kirby, MD, spoke about new 52-week data on povorcitinib, a JAK1 inhibitor, and on the study’s positive results in adult hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) patients.

HS is a chronic, inflammatory skin disorder which often results in abscesses and painful nodules which can later lead to irreparable skin damage.

The data from the trial showed average efficacy in adult HS patients was sustained in every treatment arm following the switch to povorcitinib 75 mg once-daily after 16 prior weeks of other doses.¹

“So the initial study was up to week 16,” Kirby explained. “This is looking now at week 16 to week 52. And after that first 16 weeks, people had been on previously different doses: placebo, 15 grams, 45, 75. Now everyone is kicked up to 75 milligrams every day. Why 75? Well, at the beginning of the study, nobody knew which dose was going to be sort of the sweet spot.”

The study’s investigators found that povorcitinib additionally demonstrated durable efficacy after 52 weeks, with the team noting that 22-29% of participants reported a 100% reduction from baseline in total Abscess and Inflammatory Nodule (AN) count.

“One of the things that caught my eye with the phase 2 data (from) week 16 to 52: what we saw is that a large percentage of people who had achieved high scores at week 16 are still achieving high scores throughout week 52,” Kirby said. “But again, a high score is just a starting point. We want more, our patients want more.”

She further explained that around 1 out of 5 people had achieved the same scores by 16 weeks but then the investigators approved a higher dose of treatment for a longer period of time.

“It's about 1 out of 3 or a little bit higher, to achieve a high score of 90,” Kirby said. “Now for high scores of 100, a smaller percentage there. By week 16, it's about 15%...But by week 52, it was 25 to 30%, so that's 1 out of 4 people that have a 100% reduction in the number of inflammatory nodules and abscesses.”

To find out more about the recent trial data, view the full interview segment with Kirby above.

References

1. Kirby J, et al. Efficacy and Safety of the Janus Kinase 1 Inhibitor Povorcitinib (INCB054707) in Patients with Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Results from a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 2 Dose-Ranging Study. Presented at the 31st European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress, September 7-10, 2022.