Dupilumab is very effective in a large cohort of difficult-to-treat adult atopic dermatitis patients: First clinical and biomarker results from the BioDay registry

INTRODUCTION: Dupilumab has recently been approved for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD) in adults. Daily practice data on dupilumab treatment are scarce.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of 16-week treatment with dupilumab on clinical response and serum biomarkers in adult patients with moderate-severe AD in daily practice.

METHODS: Data were extracted from the BioDay registry, a prospective multicenter registry. Sixteen-week clinical effectiveness of dupilumab was expressed as number of patients achieving EASI-50 (Eczema Area and Severity Index) or EASI-75, as well as patient-reported outcomes measures (Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure, Dermatology Life Quality Index, Numeric Rating Scale pruritus). Twenty-one biomarkers were measured in patients treated with dupilumab without concomitant use of oral immunosuppressive drugs at five different time points (baseline, 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks).

RESULTS: In total, 138 patients treated with dupilumab in daily practice were included. This cohort consisted of patients with very difficult-to-treat AD, including 84 (61%) patients who failed treatment on ≥2 immunosuppressive drugs. At week 16, the mean percent change in EASI score was 73%. The EASI-50 and EASI-75 were achieved by 114 (86%) and 82 (62%) patients after 16 weeks of treatment. The most reported side effect was conjunctivitis, occurring in 47 (34%) patients. During dupilumab treatment, disease severity-related serum biomarkers (TARC, PARC, periostin, and IL-22), eotaxin-1, and eotaxin-3 significantly decreased.

CONCLUSION: Treatment with dupilumab significantly improved disease severity and decreased severity-related serum biomarkers in patients with very difficult-to-treat AD in a daily practice setting.