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MEASURE 3 Study Results Show Biologic’s Long-Term Safety, Efficacy in AS
Secukinumab, 150 mg, is a safe and effective long-term treatment option for patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS), according to results of the phase 3 MEASURE 3 study.
Although participants who received treatment with secukinumab, 300 mg—especially those with inadequate responses to tumor necrosis factor—had higher response rates to more-stringent clinical end points in the long term compared with participants who received secukinumab, 150 mg, the study authors noted that secukinumab, 300 mg, is not currently approved for the treatment of patients with AS. Still, study results indicate some patients may benefit from the higher dose.
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To determine secukinumab’s safety and efficacy through 3 years, the researchers randomly assigned 226 patients with active AS to receive intravenous secukinumab, 10 mg/kg, at baseline and then again at weeks 2 and 4. After, participants received subcutaneous (SC) secukinumab, 300 mg, or SC secukinumab, 150 mg, every 4 weeks or a matched placebo.
At week 16, the researchers randomly reassigned the patients in the placebo group to SC secukinumab, 300 mg, or SC secukinumab, 150 mg.
At week 156, Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) 20/40, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, ASAS partial remission (ASAS-PR), ASAS 5/6, and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score–C‐reactive protein inactive disease were measured in participants who had been initially assigned to secukinumab as well as those who switched from placebo to secukinumab at week 16.
The retention rate from week 16 to week 156 was 80.5% among those receiving secukinumab, 300 mg, and 80.9% among those receiving secukinumab, 150 mg.
The ASAS 20 response rates were 75.0% among the remaining secukinumab, 300 mg, group participants and 68.2% among the remaining secukinumab, 150 mg, group participants. Meanwhile, the ASAS 40 response rates were 56.5% among the remaining secukinumab, 300 mg, group participants and 47.7% among the remaining secukinumab, 150 mg, group participants.
“Secukinumab (300 and 150 mg) provided sustained improvements through 3 years in the signs and symptoms of active AS,” the researchers wrote. “…The safety profile of secukinumab was consistent with previous reports.”
According to the study authors, MEASURE 3 is the third phase-3 study to confirm the efficacy and safety profile of secukinumab among individuals with active AS.
—Colleen Murphy
Reference:
Pavelka K, Kivitz AJ, Dokoupilova E, et al; MEASURE 3 study group. Secukinumab 150/300 mg provides sustained improvements in the signs and symptoms of active ankylosing spondylitis: 3‐year results from the phase 3 MEASURE 3 study [published online January 20, 2020]. ACR Open Rheumatol. doi:10.1002/acr2.11102.
