Janssen Pharmaceuticals announced positive results from two new studies evaluating the efficacy of the interleukin-23 inhibitor guselkumab to improve minimal disease activity domains in patients with psoriatic arthritis who failed to respond to treatment with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors. The new findings were presented at the EULAR 2023 Congress and simultaneously published by Coates et al and Rahman et al in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
In the first study, the phase IIIb COSMOS clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03796858), researchers discovered that guselkumab provided sustained improvements across all of the minimal disease activity domains after 48 weeks of follow-up—including overall response rates of 81.5% for the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, 79.8% for the Leeds Enthesitis Index, 63% for the swollen joint count, 39.9% for the patient global assessment, 37% for the Health Assessment Questionnaire–Disability Index, 30.6% for patient pain, and 28.3% for the tender joint count.
In the second study, a separate analysis of the DISCOVER-1 (NCT03162796) and DISCOVER-2 (NCT03158285) trials, investigators examined the factors that may have contributed to differences between patient and physician global assessments. Aspects such as patient-reported pain, fatigue, and physical health–related quality of life were weighed higher by patients compared with physicians. However, those who received guselkumab demonstrated improvements in the same three aspects. The researchers hope their new findings can help physicians address unmet needs, develop personalized treatment strategies, and improve the quality of life for patients with psoriatic arthritis.