Key clinical point: Secukinumab demonstrated a high skin-clearing effect and favorable safety in pediatric patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis through week 24.
Major finding: At week 12, low dose (LD) and high dose (HD) groups showed a Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 75 response rate (RR) of 92.9%, whereas their Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) 0/1 RRs were 78.5% and 83.4%, respectively. At week 24, the PASI 75 RR for LD and HD groups increased to 95.2% and IGA 0/1 RRs increased to 88.1% and 92.9%, respectively. Both groups displayed similar treatment-emergent adverse events.
Study details: These are 24-week findings of a 224-week, open-label, phase 3 study including 84 pediatric patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis randomly assigned to LD or HD secukinumab (75/75/150 or 75/150/300 mg for body weight (kg) less than 25/25 to less than 50/50 or more, respectively).
Disclosures: The study was sponsored by Novartis Pharma AG, Switzerland. R Mazur, P Forrer, and M Patekar declared being employees of Novartis Pharma AG. Some of the authors declared serving on advisory board, speaker, consultant, or principal/subinvestigator for various organizations including Novartis.
Source: Magnolo N et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2021 Sep 20. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2021.08.066 .