Persistence and Long-Term Disease Control of Interleukin-17 Inhibitors and Interleukin-23 Inhibitors in Patients with Psoriasis: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Japan

Youran Xu,1 Tong Li,1 Chia-Ling Chang,2 Yongjing Zhang,1 Junya Masuda,3 Grace Hui-Min Wu,4 Bryan Wahking,2 Shinichi Imafuku,5 Hong Qiu6 1Global Epidemiology, Johnson & Johnson, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Regional Medical Affairs Asia Pacific, Johnson & Johnson, Singapore, Singapore; 3Medical Affairs, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Tokyo, Japan; 4Global Epidemiology, Johnson & Johnson, Taipei, Taiwan; 5Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan; 6Global Epidemiology, Johnson & Johnson, Titusville, NJ, USACorrespondence: Hong Qiu, Global Epidemiology, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, Johnson & Johnson, 1125 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Titusville, NJ, 08560, USA, Email [email protected] Shinichi Imafuku, Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, 7-45-1, Nanakuma, Fukuoka, 810-0180, Japan, Email [email protected]: Interleukin-17 inhibitors (IL-17i) and interleukin-23 inhibitors (IL-23i) are advanced therapeutic options for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. In real-world settings, biologic persistence is commonly used as a proxy for effectiveness and safety, and a treatment-free status following biologic discontinuation may provide insights into disease remission. This study aimed to assess persistence and treatment-free status for IL-17i versus IL-23i among biologic-naïve patients with psoriasis in Japan.Patients and Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from the Japanese Medical Data Vision database from 01 January 2015 to 31 December 2022. Patients diagnosed with psoriasis who initiated IL-17i or IL-23i during this study period were included. Persistence of the index biologic and post-discontinuation treatment-free status were assessed using Kaplan-Meier methodology. Propensity score methods with inverse probability of treatment weighting and matching were employed to control potential confounding between treatment cohorts.Results: There were 1,751 and 1,721 patients included in the IL-17i cohort and IL-23i cohort, respectively. Persistence rates for IL-17i were 55.7% [95% CI 53.2– 58.1%] at the first year and 21.5% [95% CI 18.9– 24.2%] at the fourth year, versus 77.7% [95% CI 75.4– 79.8%] and 47.8% [95% CI 42.2– 53.2%], respectively, for IL-23i. The risk of discontinuation of IL-23i was half that of IL-17i (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]=0.49 [95% CI 0.44– 0.54]). After discontinuation, 19.2% [95% CI 16.1– 22.4%] and 31.5% [95% CI 27.8– 41.2%] of patients in the IL-17i and IL-23i cohorts, respectively, remained treatment-free for at least 1 year. Patients treated with IL-23i had a lower risk for resuming systemic therapy after biologic discontinuation (aHR=0.57 [95% CI 0.49– 0.67]).Conclusion: IL-23i was associated with longer persistence and a longer post-discontinuation treatment-free period than IL-17i in patients with psoriasis. These findings may provide actionable insights for healthcare providers and patients as they develop treatment strategies. Future research integrating comprehensive clinical data is warranted to evaluate different treatment strategies, thereby informing clinical decision-making.Keywords: plaque psoriasis, persistence, treatment-free, interleukin-17 inhibitor, interleukin-23 inhibitor, real-world evidence