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Method: 42 patients with active PsA fulfilling CASPAR criteria were assigned 2:1 to receive two injections with secukinumab (10mg/kg) or placebo, given three weeks apart. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of ACR20 responders at Week 6 in active compared with placebo recipients (one-sided p-value <0.1). As per protocol, no imputation was made for missing data (drop-outs were treated as missing).
Result: 25 (89%) patients on secukinumab and 10 (71%) on placebo completed the study. Five patients (4 secukinumab and 1 placebo) were excluded from the efficacy analysis due to protocol violations. Three (11%) of patients on secukinumab and 4 (29%) on placebo discontinued prematurely for lack of efficacy or withdrawal of consent. Demographics and baseline characteristics were balanced between groups for age, sex and parameters including mean (SD) SJC (secukinumab vs. placebo): 8.3 (5.6) vs. 9.5 (5.4); TJC 23.5 (19.4) vs. 22.6 (11.0); DAS28 4.8 (1.2) vs. 4.8 (1.2); MASES 3.0 (4.1) vs. 3.4 (2.3). Co-existing psoriasis, prior TNFi exposure and co-medication with DMARDS were present in 23 (98%), 11 (46%) and 21 (88%) patients on secukinumab and in 11 (89%), 5 (38%) and 10 (70%) on placebo, respectively. The ACR20 response rate at week 6 was 39% (9/23) on secukinumab vs. 23% (3/13) on placebo (P = 0.27). ACR20 response rates were 39% (9/23) vs. 15% (2/13) at week 12, and 43% (10/23) vs. 18% (2/11) at week 28 with secukinumab versus placebo, respectively. ACR50 and ACR70 response rates at week 6 on secukinumab vs. placebo were 17% vs. 8 % and 9% vs. 0%, respectively. CRP reductions at week 6 compared to baseline were observed on secukinumab (median [range] of 5.0 [0.3, 43.0] at baseline vs. 3.0 [0.2, 15.2] at week 6, but not on placebo (3.9 [1.3, 39.7] at baseline vs. 5.0 [0.8, 29.6] at week 6). Similar reductions were seen for ESR, and reductions in acute phase parameters were maintained up to week 28. The overall rate of adverse events (AEs) was comparable in secukinumab versus placebo: 26 (94%) vs. 11 (79%). One severe adverse event (cellulitis hand) occurred on secukinumab, and was not suspected by the investigator to be study drug-related. 7 serious AEs were reported in 4 secukinumab patients (tendon rupture/carpal tunnel syndrome/cellulitis, obesity, fall, breast cancer [diagnosed prior to dosing and inclusion constituting a protocol violation]) and 1 with placebo (polyarthritis). Infections were reported in 16 (57%) patients on secukinumab and 7 (50%) patients on placebo.
Conclusion: The safety profile of secukinumab was favorable overall. Although the primary endpoint was not met, a substantial proportion of patients showed rapid and sustained improvements of clinical scores and acute phase parameters up to week 28. Trends towards a beneficial clinical effect support the rationale for larger clinical trials designed to assess clinical effectiveness.
Disclosure: I. McInnes, None; J. Sieper, None; J. Braun, None; P. Emery, None; D. van der Heijde, None; J. Isaacs, None; G. Dahmen, None; J. Wollenhaupt, None; H. Schulze-Koops, None; S. Gsteiger, Novartis Pharma AG, 3 ; A. Bertolino, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, 3 ; W. Hueber, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, 3 ; P. P. Tak, None.