Following a newly published network meta-analysis (NMA), Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies – a branch of Johnson & Johnson – announced that its psoriatic arthritis (PsA) therapy Tremfya (guselkumab) has ranked highest overall for skin clearance, alongside results that demonstrated positive joint efficacy, compared to existing PsA therapies.
In its evaluation, the NMA concluded that Tremfya – first-in-class interleukin (IL)-23 inhibitor –ranked highest for skin clearance based on data set by the Psoriasis Area Index among a group of 23 therapy regimens. The NMA compared Tremfya using data from 33 phase 3 randomised trials.
These involved 15 unique treatments, including IL-23 inhibitors – guselkumab and risankizumab – subcutaneous tumour necrosis factor inhibitors and Janus kinase inhibitors.
The NMA indirectly compared all published phase 3 data for treatments that are approved or under investigation in the EU for adults with active PsA
Regarding an improvement in joint inflammation, both Tremfya dosing regimens of 100mg every four weeks and eight weeks provided positive data when compared to therapies like risankizumab and upadacitinib using a modified Sharp-van der Heijde score for PsA.
“Psoriatic arthritis is a complex disease, and physicians must consider many factors when making treatment decisions, including the relative efficacy of therapies in treating both skin and joints, as well as established safety,” said Terence Rooney, vice president, Rheumatology and Maternal-Fetal Immunology Disease Area leader at Janssen Research & Development.
Rooney added: “NMAs are a comprehensive, well-established approach, and can provide physicians with useful information on available therapies.”
Dr Philip Mease, founding organiser of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA), shared his view on the use of NMA for PsA research: “This comprehensive analytical approach helps to provide a useful comparative picture of available psoriatic arthritis medicines.
“In my experience, thorough NMAs such as this one can help equip physicians to discuss treatment choices and therapeutic outcomes with their patients in daily practice.”
Through using the NMA approach to trial data, companies like Janssen are able to provide comparative evidence of PsA therapies. In turn, this gives physicians a supported basis for discussing treatment options and more realistic treatment outcomes with patients.