Continuous treatment with adalimumab more efficacious.

A recent analysis presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology indicated that patients with psoriasis achieve better efficacy with continuous treatment with adalimumab (Humira[R]) as compared to interrupted treatment. This analysis was derived from 52-week study, REVEAL (The Randomized Controlled Evaluation of Adalimumab Every Other Week in Moderate to Severe Psoriasis Trial Abbott Laboratories); this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of adalimumab in 1212 patients with moderate to severe chronic psoriasis.

In this subgroup analysis, after 33 weeks, patients with a PASI 75 or greater were randomized into 2 groups. One group continued to receive adalimumab and the other group was treated with placebo. After a total of 52 weeks, the patients in both groups received adalimumab during an open-label extension period of the trial. Those patients who maintained their response after discontinuation of treatment were more likely to achieve a PASI 75 response when restarted on treatment. Eighty-four percent of the 161 patients who maintained their response achieved PASI 75 after 24 weeks of re-treatment, as compared to 55 percent of the 66 patients who lost adequate response after discontinuing treatment.

In addition, a separate subgroup analysis revealed that adalimumab effectively treats adults with psoriasis regardless of age, duration of disease, diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis, or recent systemic therapy.

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