Brodalumab Equally Effective in Treating Scalp, Nail Psoriasis in Men and Women

Brodalumab, the interleukin-17 receptor A antagonist, is effective in treating nail and scalp psoriasis in both men and women, according to phase 3 study results presented at American Academy of Dermatology’s (AAD) annual meeting held March 25 to 29, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The study’s main objective was to determine how results differed by gender in nail and scalp psoriasis treated with brodalumab compared to either a placebo or ustekinumab.

For the scalp psoriasis study, the researchers measured scalp clearance by observed rates of 75% improvement and 100% improvement from baseline using the psoriasis scalp severity index (PSSI 75 and PSSI 100). The participants received either brodalumab 210 mg or the placebo every 2 weeks for 12 weeks. The study included 54 men and 28 women who received the study drug and 65 men and 30 women received the placebo.

For the nail psoriasis study, researchers reported rates of nail psoriasis severity index (NAPSI) score of 0 for patients who received either brodalumab 210 mg every 2 weeks (men, n=80; women, n=24) or ustekinumab (men, n=140; women, n=39) continuously for 52 weeks.

At 12 weeks, brodalumab showed higher rates of efficacy compared with the placebo. Most (90.6%) of the men treated with brodalumab achieved a PSSI of 75% compared with 8.3% in the placebo group. Of the women, 89.3% achieved a 75% PSSI score versus 13.3% treated with the placebo.

In the nail psoriasis study, 59.3% of the men treated with brodalumab reached NAPSI 0 compared with 34.3% using ustekinumab. Of the women, 80% receiving brodalumab scored NAPSI 0 compared with 55.5% treated with ustekinumab.

In conclusion, the researchers reported brodalumab was associated with “rapid and robust clearance” of scalp psoriasis, while those treated with brodalumab for nail psoriasis experienced “high rates of complete nail clearance.”

Disclosure: This research was supported by Ortho Dermatologics, a division of Bausch Health U.S. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.

Reference

Elewski, Boni MD et al. Analysis of nail or scalp psoriasis by gender in clinical studies of brodalumab. Presented at: the 2022 Annual Meeting; March 25-29, 2022. Abstract/Poster 33985.