Philip Mease, MD: Bimekizumab’s Efficacy Over Ustekinumab, Risankizumab in Treating PsA, AxSpA

New research has found that bimekizumab seems to be more efficacious than both ustekinumab and risankizumab in treating psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA).^1,2

The HCPLive editorial team spoke with lead investigator Philip Mease, MD, Clinical Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine and Director, Rheumatology Research, Swedish Medical Center, to learn more about the comparator analyses that included data from the BE OPTIMAL (NCT03895203) and BE COMPLETE (NCT03896581) trials of bimekizumab, the PSUMMIT 1 (NCT01009086) and PSUMMIT 2 trials (NCT01077362) of ustekinumab, and the KEEPsAKE-1 (NCT03675308) and KEEPsAKE-2 (NCT03671148) trials of risankizumab.

“We now have a bevy of medications to choose from for treating PsA and AxSpA. In the absence of head to head trials, which are the best way of comparing one drug to another, we end up needing to use other methods of statistical analysis to help us determine whether or not one drug is either equally efficacious or perhaps even more efficacious than another, in the treatment of these diseases,” Mease told HCPLive®.

Mease went over the analysis’s findings, which supported the use of bimekizumab over ustekinumab or risankizumab for treating PsA and AxSpA.In patients who were biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug naïve (bDMARD naïve), bimekizumab had a greater likelihood of achieving ACR50, and ACR70 at week 52 over risankizumabor ustekinumab. In patients with a previous inadequate response or an intolerance to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi-IR disease), bimekizumab had a greater likelihood of achieving ACR20, ACR50, and ACR70at week 52 against the other therapies.

“We were able to see that bimekizumab worked very well in key outcome measures in psoriatic arthritis... So, we welcome this new mechanism of action, which has shown good effectiveness, and we are anticipating approval in the Fall of 2024,” Mease said.

Relevant disclosures include AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Galapagos, Gilead Sciences, Genentech, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer Inc, Sun and UCB.

REFERENCES

1. Mease, P.J., Warren, R.B., Nash, P. et al. Comparative Effectiveness of Bimekizumab and Ustekinumab in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis at 52 Weeks Assessed Using a Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparison. Rheumatol Ther. Published online August 9, 2024. doi: 10.1007/s40744-024-00705-x
2. Mease, P.J., Warren, R.B., Nash, P. et al. Comparative Effectiveness of Bimekizumab and Risankizumab in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis at 52 Weeks Assessed Using a Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparison. Rheumatol Ther. Published online August 9, 2024. doi: 10.1007/s40744-024-00706-w