Thanks to their specificity of action, biologic drugs often lead to complete clearance of psoriatic lesions. In order to maintain its effectiveness, biological therapies cannot be discontinued. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of widening the administration window of four biologic drugs, thus improving the quality of life of psoriatic patients and satisfying their desire to feel free from the disease, without loss of effectiveness.
We performed a multicentric cohort study considering patients with moderate-severe plaque psoriasis and/or arthropathic psoriasis treated with infliximab, adalimumab, etanercept or ustekinumab. The study group included patients with stabilized psoriasis in which the administration regimen of the biologic drug was deferred. The control group included psoriatic patients treated according the product monograph.
The percentage of relapses in case of deferred administration intervals was comparable to that of standard administration intervals. The delayed administration modality got a good psychological consensus from the patients themselves, that reported a greater 'perceived satisfaction'. A consistent economic advantage was reported in case of prolonged administration intervals.
The administration of biologic drugs with prolonged intervals maintains the same effectiveness as standard administration and produces a 'perceived satisfaction' in psoriatic patients.