Drug switching in axial spondyloarthritis patients in Germany - a social listening analysis.

Background: Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic inflammatory disease which primarily affects the axial skeleton resulting in chronic back pain and stiffness. According to the guideline, the first-line treatment includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) and non-pharmacological treatment. Second line treatment involves biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) such as tumour necrosis factor and interleukin-17 inhibitors. Objectives: The aim of this social media listening research project was to analyse switches of medication and the reasons thereof to gain valuable insights into real-life journeys of patients suffering from axSpA. Methods: Publicly available posts in German-speaking disease-specific forums were scanned for disease-specific keywords and commonly used drugs by axSpA patients on the Permea platform. Posts containing at least two key words were selected and switches between medications were manually labelled. A total of 287 scraped posts between 01 July 2010 and 04 Feb 2022 were analysed. Results: The largest group of described medication switches was initially using bDMARDs. Switches to a different bDMARD, termination of medication and switches to glucocorticoids were most frequently named. Patients on NSAIDs switched to glucocorticoids, a different NSAID or bDMARD, whereas patients on csDMARDs most frequently changed to bDMARDs. In all medication groups the main reason for switching was insufficient efficacy and side effects. Additionally, for the medication groups bDMARDs, csDMARDs and corticosteroids, pregnancy and lactation were given as a reason for switching, whereas patients in the NSAID group never mentioned pregnancy and breastfeeding as a reason for switching treatment. Conclusion: Our analysis shows medication switches based on real-life patient experiences shared with peers in a social listening setting. We also show medication switches differing from advised guidelines. Gathering real-life insights into patients' journey dealing with chronic diseases allows us to understand, and thereby improve patient care and treatment.

Treat-to-target strategy with secukinumab as a first-line biological disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug compared to standard-of-care treatment in patients with active axial spondyloarthritis: protocol for a randomised open-label phase III study, AScalate.

INTRODUCTION: In patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) are recommended to those with inadequate response or contraindications to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). In case of failure of the first bDMARD, a switch within the class or to other bDMARD is recommended. Despite these treatment options, there is no optimal treat-to-target (T2T) strategy. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a T2T strategy in patients with axSpA, with secukinumab as a first-line bDMARD, compared with standard-of-care (SOC) treatment. METHODS AND ANALYSES: This is a randomised, parallel-group, open-label, multicentre ongoing study in patients with axSpA who are naïve to bDMARD and who have had an inadequate response to NSAIDs. The study will include an 8-week screening period, a 36-week treatment period and a 20-week safety follow-up period. At baseline, patients will be randomised (1:1) to T2T or SOC group. In the T2T group, patients will be treated with secukinumab 150 mg subcutaneous (s.c.) weekly until week 4 and then at week 8. For non-responders (patients without Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score [ASDAS] clinically important improvement; change from baseline ≥1.1) at week 12, dose will be escalated to 300 mg s.c. every 4 weeks until week 24. Non-responders at week 24 will be switched to adalimumab biosimilar 40 mg s.c. every 2 weeks until week 34. In the SOC group, patients will receive treatment at the discretion of the physician. The primary endpoint is the proportion of patients achieving an Assessment in SpondyloArthritis International Society 40% (ASAS40) response at week 24. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study is being conducted as per the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and after approval from independent ethics committees/institutional review boards. The first results are expected to be published in early 2022. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03906136.

Secukinumab Use in Patients with Moderate to Severe Psoriasis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis in Real-World Setting in Europe: Baseline Data from SERENA Study.

INTRODUCTION: Secukinumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody that directly inhibits interleukin-17A, has demonstrated robust efficacy in the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis (PsO), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), with a rapid onset of action, sustained long-term clinical responses and a consistently favourable safety profile across phase 3 trials. Here, we report the clinical data at enrolment from SERENA, designed to investigate the real-world use of secukinumab across all three indications. METHODS: SERENA is an ongoing, longitudinal, observational study conducted at 438 sites across Europe in patients with moderate to severe plaque PsO, active PsA or active AS. Patients should have received at least 16 weeks of secukinumab treatment before enrolment in the study. RESULTS: Overall 2800 patients were included in the safety set; patients with PsA (N = 541) were older than patients with PsO (N = 1799) and patients with AS (N = 460); patients with PsO had a higher mean body weight than patients with PsA and patients with AS; and patients with PsO and patients with AS were predominantly male. Time since diagnosis was longer in patients with PsO compared with patients with PsA and patients with AS, and about 40% of patients were either current or former smokers. The proportion of obese patients (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2) was similar across indications. Patients were treated with secukinumab for a mean duration of 1 year prior to enrolment (range 0.89-1.04). The percentages of patients with prior biologics exposure were 31.5% PsO, 59.7% PsA and 55% AS. The percentages of patients prescribed secukinumab monotherapy were 75% (n = 1349) in PsO, 48.2% (n = 261) in PsA and 48.9% (n = 225) in AS groups. CONCLUSION: Baseline demographics of the study population are consistent with existing literature. This large observational study across all secukinumab indications will provide valuable information on the long-term effectiveness and safety of secukinumab in the real-world setting.

Five-year outcomes in kidney transplant patients randomized to everolimus with cyclosporine withdrawal or low-exposure cyclosporine versus standard therapy.

HERAKLES was a 1-year randomized, multicenter trial. Patients were randomized at 3 months after kidney transplantation to remain on cyclosporine-based therapy, switch to everolimus without a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI), or switch to everolimus with low-exposure cyclosporine. Overall, 417 of 497 (83.9%) patients from the core study entered a 4-year extension study. The randomized regimen was continued to year 5 in 75.9%, 41.9% and 24.6% of patients in the standard-CNI, CNI-free and low-CNI groups, respectively. Adjusted estimated GFR at year 5 was significantly higher in the CNI-free group versus standard CNI (difference 7.2 mL/min/1.73 m2 , P < .001) or low CNI (difference 7.6 mL/min/1.73 m2 , P < .001). For patients who continued randomized therapy for 5 years, differences were 14.4 mL/min/1.73 m2  and 10.1 mL/min/1.73 m2 , respectively. Biopsy-proven acute rejection occurred during the 4-year extension study in 7.6%, 8.6%, and 9.0% of patients in the standard-CNI, CNI-free and low-CNI groups, respectively (P = .927). In conclusion, conversion to a CNI-free everolimus regimen 3 months after kidney transplantation improved long-term graft function, particularly in patients who continued the CNI-free regimen. Low CNI with everolimus did not improve renal function. Efficacy was comparable between groups but frequent immunosuppression changes should be taken into account.

Isolation of a FLORICAULA/LEAFY putative orthologue from Chenopodium rubrum and its expression during photoperiodic flower induction.

The short day plant (SDP) Chenopodium rubrum L. (ecotype 374) has been a model plant for physiological studies on photoperiodic flower initiation for many years. Using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) we identified a C. rubrum putative orthologue of the FLORICAULA/LEAFY genes from Antirrhinum majus and Arabidopsis thaliana, referred to as CrFL. Kinetics of the expression of CrFL in the apical part of C. rubrum during flower induction was followed using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Expression of CrFL in vegetative apices was relatively high and started to decrease after 6 h of darkness (critical photoperiod). It reached its minimum between the 9th and the 12th hour of the 12-h inductive dark span, stayed at low levels for the next 6 h and increased again after the flower induction was completed. Our results indicate that expression of CrFL is regulated by photoperiod and that it is important both in the vegetative state and during flower development.