P189 Comparison of secukinumab versus adalimumab efficacy on skin outcomes in psoriatic arthritis: 52-week results from the EXCEED study
Authors: Gottlieb Alice , Behrens Frank , Nash Peter , Merola Joseph F , Pellet Pascale , Pricop Luminita , McInnes Iain 
Published: April 2021

Background/Aims 

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a heterogeneous disease comprising musculoskeletal and dermatological manifestations, especially plaque psoriasis. Secukinumab, an interleukin17A inhibitor, provided significantly greater PASI75/100 responses in two head-to-head trials versus etanercept or ustekinumab, a tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi), in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The EXCEED study (NCT02745080) investigated whether secukinumab was superior to adalimumab, another TNFi, as monotherapy in biologic-naive active PsA patients with active plaque psoriasis (defined as having ≥1 psoriatic plaque of ≥ 2 cm diameter, nail changes consistent with psoriasis or documented history of plaque psoriasis). Here we report the pre-specified skin outcomes from the EXCEED study in the subset of patients with ≥3% body surface area (BSA) affected with psoriasis at baseline.

Methods 

In this head-to-head, Phase 3b, randomised, double-blind, active-controlled, multicentre, parallel-group trial, patients were randomised to receive subcutaneous secukinumab 300 mg at baseline and Weeks 1-4, followed by dosing every 4 weeks until Week 48, or subcutaneous adalimumab 40 mg at baseline followed by the same dosing every 2 weeks until Week 50. The primary endpoint was superiority of secukinumab versus adalimumab on ACR20 response at Week 52. Pre-specified outcomes included the proportion of patients achieving a combined ACR50 and PASI100 response, PASI100 response, and absolute PASI score ≤3. Missing data were handled using multiple imputation.

Results 

Overall, 853 patients were randomised to receive secukinumab (n = 426) or adalimumab (n = 427). At baseline, 215 and 202 patients had at least 3% BSA affected with psoriasis in the secukinumab and adalimumab groups, respectively. At Week 52, more patients achieved simultaneous improvement in ACR50 and PASI100 response with secukinumab versus adalimumab (30.7% versus 19.2%, respectively; P = 0.0087). Greater efficacy was demonstrated for secukinumab versus adalimumab for PASI100 responses and for the proportion of patients achieving absolute PASI score ≤3 (Table 1).

Conclusion 

In this pre-specified analysis, secukinumab provided higher responses compared with adalimumab in achievement of combined improvement in joint and skin disease (combined ACR50 and PASI100 response) and in skin-specific endpoints (PASI100 and absolute PASI score ≤3) at Week 52. P189 Table 1:Skin-specific outcomes at Week 52Endpoints, % responseSEC 300 mg (N = 215)ADA 40 mg (N = 202)P value (unadjusted)PASI10046300.0007Combined ACR50 and PASI10031190.0087Absolute PASI score ≤379650.0015P value vs ADA; unadjusted P values are presented. Multiple imputation was used for handling missing data. ADA, adalimumab; ACR, American College of Rheumatology; N, number of patients in the psoriasis subset; PASI, Psoriasis Area and Severity Index; SEC, secukinumab.

Disclosure 

A. Gottlieb: Grants/research support; A.G. has received research support, consultation fees or speaker honoraria from Pfizer, AbbVie, BMS, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Sandoz, Nordic, Celltrion and UCB. F. Behrens: Consultancies; F.B. is a consultant for Pfizer, AbbVie, Sanofi, Lilly, Novartis, Genzyme, Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, MSD, Celgene, Roche and Chugai. Grants/research support; F.B. has received grant/research support from Pfizer, Janssen, Chugai, Celgene, Lilly and Roche. P. Nash: Consultancies; P.N. is a consultant for AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer Inc., Roche, Sanofi and UCB. Member of speakers’ bureau; for AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer Inc., Roche, Sanofi and UCB. Grants/research support; P.N. has received research support from AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Eli Lilly and Company, Gilead, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer Inc, Roche, Sanofi and UCB. J. Merola: Consultancies; J.F.M. is a consultant for Merck, AbbVie, Dermavant, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Janssen, UCB Pharma, Celgene, Sanofi, Regeneron, Arena, Sun Pharma, Biogen, Pfizer, EMD Sorono, Avotres and LEO Pharma. P. Pellet: Corporate appointments; P.P. is an employee of Novartis. Shareholder/stock ownership; P.P. is a shareholder of Novartis. L. Pricop: Corporate appointments; L.P. is an employee of Novartis. Shareholder/stock ownership; L.P. is a shareholder of Novartis. I. McInnes: Consultancies; I.M. is a consultant for AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Eli Lilly and Company, Gilead, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer and UCB. Grants/research support; I.M. has received grant/research support from Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen and UCB.