Long-term safety and efficacy of anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha biosimilar agents in the treatment of psoriasis: a single Center study

• Published in: The Journal of dermatological treatment 2022-05, Vol.33 (4), p.1-1985
• Main Authors: Ricceri, Federica, Rosi, Elia, Di Cesare, Antonella, Scandagli, Ilaria, Fastame, Maria Thais, Prignano, Francesca
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0954-6634; 1471-1753
• DOI: 10.1080/09546634.2021.1922573

Biosimilar anti-TNF-alpha drugs are widely used in the treatment of psoriasis, but only few studies reported the long term experience of the various biosimilar agents in the real world practice.A monocentric retrospective observational study was performed to assess the long term efficacy, tolerability and safety of biosimilars adalimumab (bADA), biosimilar etanercept (bETN) and biosimilar infliximab (bIFX) in psoriasis patients.A total of 73 patients (19 patient treated with bADA, 37 with bETN and 17 with bIFX) were enrolled and observed up to 48 months of follow-up. Regarding the efficacy, across all biosimilar treatments combined, the mean PASI score was ≤2 (1.2) after 12 months of treatments. Notably, the mean PASI score remaneid relatively stable during all 48 months of follow-up. With regard to tolerability and safety in the present study, 34 (28%) patients experienced adverse events during all biosimilar therapy, and 3 (4.3%) discontinued treatment. No severe adverse events, death or malignancy cases were recorded during the study period.Our results support that biosimilar anti TNF-alpha are effective and well tolerated drugs for the long-term treatment of psoriasis.