2-Year Data: Bimekizumab Can Eliminate Draining Tunnels in HS

Two-year data from the BE HEARD trials for bimekizumab-bkzx (BIMZELX®) in moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) continued to demonstrate sustained disease control and durable relief from key HS symptoms, including the potential to help prevent long-term structural damage caused by draining tunnels (DTs), UCB announced.

Bimekizumab-bkzx is the only medicine approved to selectively inhibit both IL-17A and IL-17F.

“Draining tunnels cause debilitating symptoms such as pain and malodorous discharge, and can often result in irreversible scarring,” Christopher Sayed, MD, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said in a press release. “These exciting results reveal that treatment with bimekizumab-bkzx reduces draining tunnels and the associated disease burden in patients with moderate-to-severe HS.”

Among patients with one or more DTs at baseline, the proportion who had 1–2, 3–5, or >5 DTs at 2 years were 26.6% (93/350), 11.1% (39/350), and 6.6% (23/350) respectively. In addition, 55.7% (195/350) had no DTs at 2 years. In a subgroup of patients with ≥5 DTs at baseline, 41.1% (62/151) had no DTs at two years. The majority of patients with HS experience disease-associated pain, a highly burdensome symptom that negatively impacts their quality of life. In addition to a reduction in clinical severity of skin pain with BIMZELX, measured by Hidradenitis Suppurativa Symptom Questionnaire (HSSQ) skin pain scores, the proportion of patients reporting no impact on their Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) due to pain, based on HiSQOL pain item score increased from 2.7% (15/551) at baseline to 44.6% (196/439) at 2 years. BIMZELX was well tolerated over 2 years, with no new safety signals observed in the second year.

“This new long-term data underscores UCB’s dedication to improving outcomes for people with HS, by providing a treatment option that offers sustainable clinical improvements while helping to prevent the long-term structural damage associated with draining tunnels,” Fiona du Monceau, Executive Vice President, Head of Patient Evidence, UCB, said in the press release. “The substantial and sustained clinical improvements addressing a wide range of HS symptoms across broad patient populations highlights bimekizumab-bkzx’s potential to address the unmet needs of people living with HS.”

UCB’s data in HS was being presented as seven posters at the 2025 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida.