Patients responsive to the treatment tended to maintain the response over time.

A pooled analysis of data from the BE HEARD I and BE HEARD II trials presented at Maui Derm 2024 suggested adults with moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) treated with bimekizumab (BKZ) saw a sustained clinical response at 48 weeks.

“Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic and painful inflammatory skin disease associated with significant comorbidities and poor quality of life," the researchers wrote in the study abstract. "Thus, it is important that treatment efficacy and clinical response are maintained over time.” 

Previous data has suggested efficacy in patients with moderate-to-severe HS at the initial 16-week treatment period. For the pooled analysis, which focused on the maintenance phase (weeks 16 to 48), patients were randomized 2:2:2:1 to receive BKZ 320 mg every 2 weeks during initial and maintenance phases (n=288), BKZ every 2 weeks during initial and every 4 weeks during maintenance (n=292), BKZ every 4 weeks during initial and maintenance phases (n=288), and placebo/BKZ every two weeks during initial and maintenance phases (n=146). The researchers defined maintenance of response as a percentage of BKZ-treated patients who achieved 50% HS Clinical Response (HiSCR₅₀) or an abscess and inflammatory nodule (AN) count of 0, 1, or 2 at week 16 and maintained through week 48.

Among those patients who were week-16 HiSCR₅₀ responders in the respective non-placebo treatment groups, between 88.5% and 89.6% of those patients maintained clinical response through week 48. In those non-placebo treatment groups with an AN count of 0, 1, or 2 at week 16, between 82.1% and 88.0% of those patients maintained a response at week 48.

“The bottom line is that in the treatment responsive groups, these people tend to maintain that response over time,” study researcher Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of dermatology Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, added in a presentation of the data during the Late Breaking Clinical Trials session.

Source: Ingram JR, Porter M, Chovatiya R, et al. Bimekizumab response maintenance to 48 weeks in patients with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa: Pooled responder analysis from the phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials BE HEARD I and II. Abstract 12522. Presented at: Maui Derm, January 22-26, 2024.

Disclosures

Dr. Chovatiya reports a disclosure with UCB Pharma. The analysis and studies received funding from UCB Pharma. Medical writing support was provided by Costello Medical.