- Van der Schoot. Risk of respiratory tract infections and serious infections in psoriasis patients treated with biologics: results from the BioCAPTURE registry. FC03.02, EADV Congress 2021, 29 Sept–2 Oct.
Biologic treatments for psoriasis are often associated with an increased risk of infection. In an observational study including 714 psoriasis patients with 1,325 treatment, PhD candidate Lara van der Schoot (Radboud University Medical Center, the Netherlands) and her team examined the differential effect of biological therapies on the risk of respiratory tract infections and serious infections, including COVID-19.
Both patient and treatment characteristics were extracted from the BioCAPTURE database. In the study period, 2,224 respiratory tract infections and 63 serious infections were reported of which only 1.3% of respiratory tract infections were reported as serious.
Crude rates of respiratory tract infections per 100 patient-years were highest for infliximab (72.2; 95% CI 54.8–93.5), etanercept (67.4; 95% CI 62.8–72.3), and ixekizumab (62.8; 95% CI 47.4–81.7), and lowest for secukinumab (48.7; 95% CI 38.1–61.4). For serious infections, rates were highest for ixekizumab (6.0; 95% CI 2.2–13.4) and infliximab (4.0; 95% CI 1.0–10.9), and again lowest for secukinumab (0.7; 95% CI 0.1–3.5).
An analysis found no differential risk of respiratory tract infections between the included biologics adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, ustekinumab, secukinumab, ixekizumab, and guselkumab, and no association was revealed for serious infections.
Regarding SARS-CoV-2 infections (n=358), the crude incidence rate was 3.8 per 100 patient-years during 2020 (compared with a national incidence rate of 4.7 per 100 patient-years in the Netherlands). This information should be interpreted with care because all COVID-19- related patient data came from a single BioCAPTURE centre.
“Our analysis reveals no differences in risk of respiratory tract infections between biologics, including the newer IL-17 and IL-23 inhibitors, in a prospective psoriasis patients cohort. In addition, our preliminary results suggest that biological treatments do not impact psoriasis patients’ susceptibility to COVID-19 infections, although this needs to be further investigated,” Ms van der Schoot concluded. “These findings provide key clinical value and will help to guide patient decisions with regard to psoriasis treatment options and choice.”