Effectiveness and safety of secukinumab in Italian patients with psoriasis: an 84 week, multicenter, retrospective real-world study

ABSTRACT

Background: Long term data on the real-life use of secukinumab are scant. The aim of this study was to investigate the real-life effectiveness, safety and treatment persistence of secukinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

Research design and methods: This 84-week, multicenter (n = 7) retrospective study analyzed data from patients who initiated and received at least 6 months of secukinumab treatment between June 2016 and June 2018 in the Campania region of Italy. Patient demographic and treatment characteristics, duration of treatment and reasons for discontinuation as well as Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), Body Surface Area (BSA), and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores were assessed.

Results: 324 patients (63% male, mean age 50.2 years) were enrolled and received a mean 11.7 months of secukinumab treatment. Overall, 9.5% discontinued secukinumab, including 5.2% who discontinued due to secondary inefficacy and 1.8% due to adverse events. PASI, BSA and DLQI scores were significantly improved from baseline at every follow-up visit (p < 0.001) and mean PASI decreased from 15.3 ± 6.3 at baseline to 0.5 ± 1.0 at week 84. Secukinumab had comparable effectiveness in biologic naïve and non-naïve patients.

Conclusions: This study confirmed the effectiveness and safety of secukinumab in real-world patients with psoriasis.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-IL-17
• biologic drugs
• PASI
• psoriasis
• real life
• secukinumab

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Simone Tait of Springer Healthcare Communications who edited the manuscript before submission. This medical writing assistance was funded by Novartis.

Author contributions

Matteo Megna contributed to the study design, enrolled patients, read and approved each draft of the manuscript and performed some of the analyses; Luisa Di Costanzo contributed to the study design, enrolled patients, read and approved each draft of the manuscript and performed some of the analyses; Giuseppe Argenziano contributed to the study design, enrolled patients, read and approved each draft of the manuscript; Anna Balato enrolled patients, read and approved each draft of the manuscript, performed some of the analyses, and performed statistical analysis of the data; Paola Colasanti enrolled patients and read and approved each draft of the manuscript; Francesco Cusano enrolled patients and read and approved each draft of the manuscript; Antonia G. Galluccio enrolled patients and read and approved each draft of the manuscript; Alessio Gambardella enrolled patients and read and approved each draft of the manuscript; Serena Lembo enrolled patients, read and approved each draft of the manuscript and performed statistical analysis of the data; Raffaele Mozzillo enrolled patients and read and approved each draft of the manuscript; Genoveffa Scotto Di Luzio enrolled patients and read and approved each draft of the manuscript; Gabriella Fabbrocini enrolled patients and read and approved each draft of the manuscript; Nicola Balato contributed to the study design, enrolled patients and read and approved each draft of the manuscript. All authors drafted and/or critically revised the manuscript and approved the final draft for submission.

Declaration of interest

Medical writing assistance was used for the preparation of this manuscript, and this was funded by Novartis. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Reviewer Disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial relationships or otherwise to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.