Key clinical point: Bimekizumab led to sustained improvements in clinical response up to week 52 and had a consistent safety profile in patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who were naive to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD).
Major finding: At week 16, 43.9% of patients receiving bimekizumab achieved ≥50% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology scores (ACR50), with the response being maintained until week 52 (54.5%). Among patients who switched from placebo to bimekizumab at week 16, a similar proportion (53.0%) achieved ACR50 at week 52. No new safety signals were observed.
Study details: Findings are from the phase 3 BE OPTIMAL study including 852 bDMARD-naive patients with active PsA who were randomly assigned to receive bimekizumab, adalimumab, or placebo.
Disclosures: This study was sponsored by UCB Pharma. Four authors declared being employees and shareholders of UCB Pharma. The other authors declared ties with several sources, including UCB Pharma.
Source: Ritchlin CT et al. Bimekizumab treatment in biologic DMARD-naïve patients with active psoriatic arthritis: 52-week efficacy and safety results from the phase III, randomised, placebo-controlled, active reference BE OPTIMAL study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2023;82:1404-1414 (Sep 11). doi: 10.1136/ard-2023-224431