Patients undergoing ixekizumab therapy for moderate-to-severe psoriasis shows strong adherence

Biologic-naive patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis (PsO) who were treated with ixekizumab demonstrated greater adherence and continued the therapy for more than 2 years, says an article published in Dermatology and Therapy. 

To keep the condition under control, psoriasis patients need to follow their treatment plan and be consistent in doing so. Patient support programs are helpful in helping people manage their diseases. In order to better understand the patient profile and durability of Canadian patients with moderate-to-severe PsO commencing ixekizumab, Wayne Gulliver and team used PSP data.

Using a Canadian PSP database, this retrospective observational research looked at past events (May 2016 to March 2020). Age 18 years, moderate-to-severe PsO, initiating ixekizumab, enrolling in the PSP for 6 months, and giving informed consent were inclusion criteria. At PSP entrance, data on body surface area (BSA) participation, psoriasis area severity index (PASI), and dermatology life quality index (DLQI) were gathered. After 1-year and 2-year follow-ups, adherence and persistence were evaluated using the proportion of days covered (PDC) and Kaplan-Meier curves, respectively. After adjusting for baseline parameters, differences in persistence between patients with and without biologic experience were compared using the Cox proportional hazards model.

The key findings of this study were:

There were 1891 moderate-to-severe PsO patients who were receiving ixekizumab in total. 51.1% of patients were between the ages of 45 and 65, and 61.4% of patients were male. 

The mean age [standard deviation (SD)] was 52.3 (13.3) years. At the start, the DLQI score was 16.5 (7.7), the mean (SD) PASI score was 14.3 (8.1), and the BSA% was 17.4. (15.1). 

PsO lesions were typically seen on the face (28.6%), feet (23.8%), and hands (33.4%). Patients receiving ixekizumab were extremely devoted and persistent. 

Patients with less biological experience exhibited greater adherence. 

After controlling for baseline variables, it was shown that biologic-naive patients had significantly higher persistence than biologic-experienced patients for 1-year (p 0.01) and 2-year (p = 0.010) follow-up periods.

The great majority of patients participating in a PSP continued receiving ixekizumab medication for more than 2 years, according to a research on the real-world persistence of ixekizumab across a sizable Canadian population with moderate-to-severe PsO. Ixekizumab treatment showed higher adherence and durability in biologic-naive patients than in biologic-experienced individuals.

Reference:

Gulliver, W., Gooderham, M. J., Zhu, B., Jossart, C., Montmayeur, S., Burge, R., & Reed, C. (2022). Treatment Persistence of Ixekizumab in Adults with Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis Participating in the Canadian Patient Support Program. In Dermatology and Therapy. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13555-022-00853-4