Discussing 140-Week Data on Upadacitinib for Atopic Dermatitis, with Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD

New findings from the phase 3 MEasure Up 1 and 2 studies were presented at the 44th Annual Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas, highlighting skin and itch outcomes with upadacitinib (Rinvoq) treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis over 140 weeks.

One of the investigators authoring the study was Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, a clinical associate professor of medicine at the Rosalind Franklin University Chicago School of Medicine and Science. Chovatiya gave an interview to the HCPLive editorial team regarding the implications of these data.

“You know, I think that we're seeing a huge shift in terms of what we're looking for out of atopic dermatitis therapies these days, and this particular study really tried to leverage some of what we've come to understand to be optimal treatment targets and atopic dermatitis,” Chovatiya said. “Basically, we know that patients aren't necessarily getting to where they should be as far as their lesional improvement or itch improvement during prolonged systemic therapy.”

Chovatiya noted that there was an apparent need to aim higher when it came to considering both clinician outcomes as well as patient reported outcomes. Specifically, he referred to an Eczema Area Severity Index (EASI)-90 score improvement, as opposed to a conventional EASI-75.

“Most patients actually maintained optimal treatment targets and minimal disease through 140 weeks of treatment,” Chvoatiya explained. “That's where this particular analysis ended. So what I mean is that if you were to take somebody that, rather the group of people that hit EASI-90 or the group of people that had an itch score of 01 and followed them through, the majority of them…were able to keep that endpoint by the end of the 140-week period.”

Additionally, Chovatiya highlighted that for those who did niot necessarily hold onto the more stringent endpoints, they still maintained very clinically meaningful response. This meant that they had an EASI between 75 - 89, for example, which is still better than the aim typically, though it was not an EASI-90.

“The data is fascinating, because what it tells us is that for people that are on continuous therapy with upadacitinib that achieve these high benchmarks, there's a really good chance that they're going to stay there or really close to there, by the end of a multi-year period,” Chovatiya said.

For additional information on upadacitinib, view the full interview posted above. To find out more about conference presentations, view our latest conference coverage.

The quotes contained in this summary were edited for clarity.