UCB has announced positive new three-year data for its inflammatory disease drug Bimzelx (bimekizumab) in adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Results from the phase 3 BE OPTIMAL and BE COMPLETE trials and their open-label extension study, BE VITAL, were presented at this year’s European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Congress.

Complete skin clearance, as assessed by a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score of 100, was maintained to three years by 61.9% of patients who were naïve to biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARD-naïve) and by 67.5% of patients who were inadequate responders or intolerant to tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi-IR).

Minimal disease activity was sustained to three years by 52.9% and 48.8% of bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR patients, respectively, while 59.5% and 59.1% of bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR patients, respectively, achieved elimination of swollen joints at the same time point.

“A primary treatment goal in PsA is sustained control of inflammation to help prevent long-term, irreversible structural damage and to improve quality of life,” said Laure Gossec, professor of rheumatology, Sorbonne University Hospital, adding that the Bimzelx data is “notable for [its] consistency across treatment-naïve and experienced patients”.

Approximately 125 million people worldwide are affected by some form of psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory condition that typically affects the skin, nails and joints. PsA, characterised by skin plaques, swollen toes and fingers, and joint pain and stiffness, affects around 30% of psoriasis patients.

Bimzelx is designed to selectively inhibit both IL-17A and IL-17F, two key cytokines driving inflammatory processes, and already holds approvals to treat PsA, as well as plaque psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa and axial spondyloarthritis.