The interleukin-31 receptor antagonist nemolizumab may reduce disease signs and symptoms in patients with prurigo nodularis, according to findings from a phase III trial published by Kwatra et al in The New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers randomly assigned 274 patients with moderate-to-severe prurigo nodularis to receive either an initial 60-mg dose of nemolizumab followed by 30-mg or 60-mg subcutaneous injections of nemolizumab every 4 weeks for 16 weeks (n = 183) or placebo (n = 91). The primary endpoints of the study were itch response and Investigator’s Global Assessment response, measured as a reduction of ≥ 4 points on the Peak Pruritis Numerical Rating Scale and a score of 0 or 1, respectively. The researchers found that 56.3% of the patients in the nemolizumab group vs 20.9% of those in the placebo group had an itch response (strata-adjusted difference = 37.4 percentage points, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 26.3–48.5) and 37.7% of those in the nemolizumab group vs 11.0% of those in the placebo group had an Investigator’s Global Assessment response (strata-adjusted difference = 28.5, 95% CI = 18.8–38.2). The researchers concluded that nemolizumab monotherapy was effective at reducing symptoms in patients with moderate-to-severe prurigo nodularis.
November 14, 2023