GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN - Psoriasis patients given the investigational interleukin-12/interleukin-23 inhibitor briakinumab had significantly better scores on health-related quality of life measures than did patients given etanercept in a phase III randomized, double-blind clinical trial.
"These results further enhanced the treatment benefits of briakinumab on patients’ lives beyond the previously described clinical efficacy in significantly reducing psoriasis symptoms versus placebo and etanercept," Yanjun Bao, Ph.D., said at the annual congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.
The 12-week study involved 347 psoriasis patients who were randomized double-blind 2:2:1 to briakinumab, etanercept at 50 mg twice weekly, or placebo. Briakinumab was dosed at 200 mg at weeks 0 and 4, then 100 mg at week 8.
Treatment with briakinumab resulted in a mean 10.3-point reduction in Dermatology Life Quality Index scores from a baseline of 12.4, which was significantly greater than the 8.1-point decrease in the etanercept group or the 3.0-point decline in the placebo arm, reported Dr. Bao of Abbott Laboratories in Abbott Park, Ill.
In addition, the briakinumab group’s mean 29.1-point improvement in the visual analog scale for psoriasis-related pain from a baseline score of 34.5 was significantly larger than the 24-point reduction with etanercept and the 6.1-point decrease with placebo. The mean score on the Short Form-36 mental component summary improved by 5.4 points in the briakinumab group from a baseline of 45.9, a significantly greater response than the 3.2-point reduction with etanercept or the 1-point decrease with placebo, she continued.
The phase III study was sponsored by Abbott.