Key clinical point: Bimekizumab may be dosed every 8 weeks during maintenance therapy for plaque psoriasis in contrast to the 4-week dosing regimen typically adopted for anti-interleukin-17A biologics.
Major finding: The absolute change in Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) at week 28 in patients receiving an additional bimekizumab dose vs placebo was −19.7 (95% CI, −24.2 to −15.2) vs −10.8 (95% CI, −13.5 to −8.0). Patients receiving placebo vs bimekizumab at week 16 showed a higher reduction in PASI 100 (−34.4% vs −11.7%) and Investigator's Global Assessment 0/1 (−62.5% vs 0.0%) response rates between weeks 16 and 28.
Study details: This was a prospective phase 2a study including 49 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who received bimekizumab at weeks 0 and 4 and were subsequently randomly assigned to receive either placebo or bimekizumab third dose at week 16.
Disclosures: The study was sponsored by UCB Pharma. Most of the authors including the lead author declared serving as employees of UCB Pharma, and some received research grants or consultation fees from various sources including UCB Pharma.
Source: Oliver R et al. Br J Dermatol. 2021 Oct 23. doi: 10.1111/bjd.20827 .