The Safety of Ixekizumab in Chinese Adults with Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis: Analyses from a Prospective, Single-Arm, Multicenter, 12-Week Observational Study

Ixekizumab, a monoclonal antibody against interleukin-17A, is efficacious and well tolerated for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. However, there are limited data on the real-world safety of ixekizumab in Chinese patient populations. We performed an observational study of ixekizumab for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in routine clinical practice in China. Here we present a further safety analysis of this study.

In this prospective, observational, single-arm, multicenter, post-marketing safety study, adults (≥18 years) with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis receiving ixekizumab were enroled at dermatology departments in hospitals across China and prospectively followed for 12 weeks or until their last dose of ixekizumab. In this analysis, we evaluated adverse events (AEs) of special interest (AESIs) identified using MedDRA^® search strategies. We also analyzed AEs and AESIs occurring in greater than ten patients in subgroups by age (< 65/≥ 65 years), sex, body weight (< 60/60 kg to < 80/≥ 80 kg), renal impairment, hepatic impairment, history of tuberculosis, history of HBV infection, recent or active infection, history of allergic reaction/hypersensitivity, and number (0–1/2–4/5–7) of ixekizumab 80 mg injections after baseline until day 105.

This analysis included 663/666 patients enrolled in the primary study. At least one AESI was reported in 224 (33.8%) patients and considered related to ixekizumab in 181 (27.3%); the most common were injection site reactions (n = 131, 19.8%), infections (n = 80, 12.1%), and allergic reactions/hypersensitivity events (n = 59, 8.9%). The proportion of patients with ≥ 1 AE was higher for females versus males (99/186, 53.2% versus 184/477, 38.6%, p = 0.0006). The proportion of patients with ≥ 1 AE increased with the number of ixekizumab injections after baseline [61/188 (32.4%) for zero to one injection, 151/338 (44.7%) for two to four injections, and 61/106 (57.5%) for five to seven injections; p = 0.0001].

In this real-world study, ixekizumab was well tolerated in Chinese patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, with no difference in safety across most patient subgroups.