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Two phase 3 trials of adalimumab for hidradenitis suppurativa

  • Alexa B. Kimball
  • , Martin M. Okun
  • , David A. Williams
  • , Alice B. Gottlieb
  • , Kim A. Papp
  • , Christos C. Zouboulis
  • , April W. Armstrong
  • , Francisco Kerdel
  • , Michael H. Gold
  • , Seth B. Forman
  • , Neil J. Korman
  • , Evangelos J. Giamarellos Bourboulis
  • , Jeffrey J. Crowley
  • , Charles Lynde
  • , Ziad Reguiai
  • , Errol Prospero Prens
  • , Eihab Alwawi
  • , Nael M. Mostafa
  • , Brett Pinsky
  • , Murali Sundaram
  • Yihua Gu, Dawn M. Carlson, Gregor B.E. Jemec

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

707 Scopus citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND Hidradenitis suppurativa is a painful, chronic inflammatory skin disease with few options for effective treatment. In a phase 2 trial, adalimumab, an antibody against tumor necrosis factor á, showed efficacy against hidradenitis suppurativa. METHODS PIONEER I and II were similarly designed, phase 3 multicenter trials of adalimumab for hidradenitis suppurativa, with two double-blind, placebo-controlled periods. In period 1, patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to 40 mg of adalimumab weekly or matching placebo for 12 weeks. In period 2, patients were reassigned to adalimumab at a weekly or every-other-week dose or to placebo for 24 weeks. The primary end point was a clinical response, defined as at least a 50% reduction from baseline in the abscess and inflammatory-nodule count, with no increase in abscess or draining-fistula counts, at week 12. RESULTS We enrolled 307 patients in PIONEER I and 326 in PIONEER II. Clinical response rates at week 12 were significantly higher for the groups receiving adalimumab weekly than for the placebo groups: 41.8% versus 26.0% in PIONEER I (P = 0.003) and 58.9% versus 27.6% in PIONEER II (P<0.001). Patients receiving adalimumab had significantly greater improvement than the placebo groups in rank-ordered secondary outcomes (lesions, pain, and the modified Sartorius score for disease severity) at week 12 in PIONEER II only. Serious adverse events in period 1 (excluding worsening of underlying disease) occurred in 1.3% of patients receiving adalimumab and 1.3% of those receiving placebo in PIONEER I and in 1.8% and 3.7% of patients, respectively, in PIONEER II. In period 2, the rates of serious adverse events were 4.6% or less in all the groups in both studies, with no significant between-group differences. CONCLUSIONS Treatment with adalimumab (40 mg weekly), as compared with placebo, resulted in significantly higher clinical response rates in both trials at 12 weeks; rates of serious adverse events were similar in the study groups.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)422-434
Number of pages13
JournalNew England Journal of Medicine
Volume375
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Aug 2016
Externally publishedYes

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