Early Response is Associated With Stable Long-Term Response in Psoriasis Patients Receiving Ixekizumab or Ustekinumab

The identification of early treatment factors that predict the long-term success of maintenance therapy for psoriasis may help optimize individual therapy.

To determine early treatment response rates to ixekizumab and ustekinumab and assess whether early response was associated with stable long-term response to these treatments in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

This post hoc subgroup analysis of the IXORA-S study (NCT02561806) measured disease severity using the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) and determined the percentage of patients treated with ixekizumab or ustekinumab who showed PASI 50 at week 2 or 4 (early response) and assessed whether early response was associated with maintaining complete (PASI 100) or almost complete (PASI 90) skin clearance at 80% of monthly visits during weeks 16−52 of treatment (stable response). Nonresponder imputation was used for missing PASI response status.

A numerically higher portion of patients treated with ixekizumab were early responders and were significantly more likely to achieve a stable PASI 90 response (P<.0001) or PASI 100 response (P<.0001) than patients treated with ustekinumab. Patients treated with ixekizumab or ustekinumab who were early responders were more likely to achieve a stable response of PASI 90 or 100 (odds ratio>1).

In patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis treated with ixekizumab or ustekinumab, early response was a significant factor in maintaining stable complete or almost complete skin clearance. Therefore, rapid response is a clinically relevant factor to consider when optimizing individual therapeutic strategies. J Drugs Dermatol. 2022;21(2):122-126. doi:10.36849/JDD.6063.