Guselkumab vs Secukinumab Treatment Outcomes in Self-Reported PsA

MADRID — Compared with secukinumab, guselkumab treatment appears to be more effective for patients with plaque psoriasis and self-reported psoriatic arthritis (PsA), according to study results presented at the 2019 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Congress, held June 12-15, in Madrid, Spain.

Using data from the ECLIPSE study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03090100), researchers conducted a post hoc analysis examining treatment outcomes in a subgroup of patients with self-reported PsA.

Participants in this randomized, double-blind study had moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Treatment methods included either guselkumab 100 mg at baseline, week 4, and every 8 weeks thereafter through week 44, or secukinumab 300 mg at baseline, weeks 1 through 4, and every 4 weeks thereafter through week 44.

In patients with self-reported PsA, the primary end point (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI] 90 at week 48) was achieved by 82.5% and 63.3% of patients in the guselkumab and secukinumab groups, respectively (treatment difference 19.2%; 95% CI, 5-33.4).

Beyond week 20, patients being treated with guselkumab maintained PASI 90 response; those being treated with secukinumab experienced a response reduction through week 48.

In the overall study population, the primary end point (PASI 75 response at weeks 12 and 48) demonstrated the noninferiority of guselkumab vs secukinumab (84.6% vs 80.2%; P <.001) but superiority was not demonstrated (P =.062). Between the overall study population and the PsA subgroup, adverse events were “generally consistent with the established safety profiles” of both drugs.

“In the subset of patients with self-reported PsA…[guselkumab] demonstrated better maintenance of response and higher efficacy at approximately 1 year compared with [secukinumab],” the researchers of the study concluded. “These findings were consistent with those for the overall study population of patients with plaque [psoriasis].”

Disclosure: This study was sponsored by Janssen Research & Development, LLC. Multiple authors are employee of Janssen Research & Development, LLC. See the reference for complete disclosure information.

Reference

Merola JF, Shu L, Hsu M-C, et al. Guselkumab was more effective than secukinumab in patients with plaque psoriasis and the subset of patients with self-reported psoriatic arthritis in the randomized, double-blind, head-to-head comparison study ECLIPSE over 1 year. Presented at: European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Congress 2019; June 12-15, 2019; Madrid, Spain. Abstract SAT0390.