medwireNews: Findings from the MEASURE 1 extension study suggest that the interleukin (IL)-17A inhibitor secukinumab has consistent efficacy and safety profiles over 5 years among patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).
These results “represent the longest available efficacy and safety data reported for secukinumab in AS,” write Xenofon Baraliakos (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany) and co-investigators.
The extension study included 230 patients who completed the 2-year MEASURE 1 trial and continued to receive secukinumab 150 mg or 75 mg every 4 weeks for a further 3 years, with escalation to the approved 150 mg dose at the physician’s judgement occurring in 56.2% of patients.
Baraliakos and team report in RMD Open that ASAS20 and ASAS40 response rates among participants originally given secukinumab 150 mg were sustained at the 5-year follow-up, at rates of 77.6% and 64.5%, respectively, and were maintained regardless of prior treatment with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors. They add that ASAS20 and ASAS40 response rates improved when patients switched from the 75 mg to the 150 mg dose.
The researchers say that “[t]he safety profile was consistent through 5 years of secukinumab treatment with no new or unexpected safety risks identified.”
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