Adalimumab for psoriasis: practical experience in a U.K. tertiary referral centre

Abstract

There are few reports of the practical use of adalimumab outside of a clinical trial setting and, to our knowledge, none from the U.K. We assessed the efficacy and safety of adalimumab in a cohort of patients with severe psoriasis attending a tertiary dermatology referral centre in the U.K. A retrospective case-note review was used to identify all patients initiated on adalimumab for psoriasis. RESI;TS: Baseline Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) was 24+/-11 (range 9-54; n=46). After 4 months' treatment with adalimumab 64% (29/45), of patients had achieved PASI 75 (75% decrease from baseline) whilst 80% (36/45) of patients met NICE criteria for continuation of treatment. Therapy was well-tolerated. Importantly, 68% (21/31) of patients who had previously received another tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitor met NICE criteria for continuation of treatment at 16 weeks. In a cohort of U.K. patients with severe psoriasis, adalimumab has proved to be a significant addition to the expanding armamentarium of biologics for psoriasis. Pharmacovigilance, in the form of registries, is essential to assess the long-term safety of such drugs.