UCB has announced positive new three-year data for its inflammatory disease drug Bimzelx (bimekizumab) in adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
Results from the phase 3 BE OPTIMAL and BE COMPLETE trials and their open-label extension study, BE VITAL, will be presented at this year’s European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Congress.
Complete skin clearance, as assessed by a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score of 100, was maintained to three years by 61.9% of patients who were naïve to biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARD-naïve) and by 67.5% of patients who were inadequate responders or intolerant to tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi-IR).
Minimal disease activity was sustained to three years by 52.9% and 48.8% of bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR patients, respectively, while 59.5% and 59.1% of bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR patients, respectively, achieved elimination of swollen joints at the same time point.
“A primary treatment goal in PsA is sustained control of inflammation to help prevent long-term, irreversible structural damage and to improve quality of life,” said Laure Gossec, professor of rheumatology, Sorbonne University Hospital, adding that the Bimzelx data is “notable for [its] consistency across treatment-naïve and experienced patients”.
Approximately 125 million people worldwide are affected by some form of psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory condition that typically affects the skin, nails and joints. PsA, characterised by skin plaques, swollen toes and fingers, and joint pain and stiffness, affects around 30% of psoriasis patients.
Bimzelx is designed to selectively inhibit both IL-17A and IL-17F, two key cytokines driving inflammatory processes, and already holds approvals to treat PsA, as well as plaque psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).
Alongside the data in PsA, UCB will present at EULAR new results demonstrating that Bimzelx delivered sustained clinical responses up to three years in axSpA patients.
The company’s chief medical officer, Donatello Crocetta, said: “PsA and axSpA are serious, chronic inflammatory diseases that can have a great impact in the daily lives of patients and their families.
“The data presented at EULAR reinforces the role of [Bimzelx] to deliver deep, consistent and sustained outcomes across a spectrum of PsA and axSpA.”