Ten-Year Persistence of Biologic Drugs in Psoriasis and Its Relationship with Pharmacogenetic Biomarkers

Background: Psoriasis is a skin disease characterized by the presence of erythematous, scaly plaques on the extensor surfaces of the body. Treatment varies according to the stage of the disease, with the most severe cases being treated with biologic treatments that differ in efficacy and persistence over time. This study aimed to evaluate the 10-year persistence of biologic drugs (adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab and ustekinumab) in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Methods: A total of 143 patients (61 women and 82 men) were evaluated; data were collected from the electronic clinical history, and statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS program. In addition, 115 of them were genotyped in a previous study for 173 immune system genetic polymorphisms. Results: The persistence of biologic drugs at 10 years was 25.9% (95% CI: 17.2-34.5%). Adalimumab was the most persistent drug (41.5%), followed by ustekinumab (34.8%), infliximab (28%) and etanercept (9.3%). The main reason for discontinuation was insufficient efficacy (51%). Adalimumab allowed an increase in the dosing interval in 82.4% of patients who persisted and ustekinumab allowed an increase in 37.5%. The 10-year persistence was related to sex (higher in men, p < 0.001), biologic drug (p = 0.002) and polymorphisms in LMO4 (rs983332) (p = 0.014) and IL20RA (rs1167846) (p = 0.013). Conclusion: The results show that 25% of psoriasis patients treated with first-line biologics persisted at 10 years.