Four-year drug survival of apremilast in patients with psoriasis

This real-world study at a single academic center retrospectively examined the drug survival of apremilast for patients with psoriasis. Retrospective information was extracted from the medical records of patients with psoriasis treated with apremilast at the Department of Dermatology, Jichi Medical University Hospital, between March 1, 2017, and June 31, 2021. In total, 281 patients were included in this study. Of these patients, 22% had psoriatic arthritis and 57% had a history of prior systemic treatment, including biologics, before the initiation of apremilast. The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year drug survival rates were 54%, 41%, 32%, and 30%, respectively. Cox regression analysis revealed that sex, duration of plaque psoriasis (<10 years vs ≥10 years), presence of psoriatic arthritis, involvement of scalp lesions, involvement of palmoplantar lesion, involvement of nail lesions, having cardiometabolic comorbidities, and a history of prior systemic treatment did not have any significant impact on drug survival. The most common reason for apremilast discontinuation was inadequate efficacy (27%), followed by adverse events (12%). Approximately 49% of the patients experienced one or more adverse events. Diarrhea was the most common adverse event (24%), followed by nausea (19%) and headache (11%).