Secukinumab Demonstrates Greater 12-Month Persistence and Usefulness Than Adalimumab in Psoriatic Arthritis

A retrospective cohort study using Japanese claims data has found that patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) exhibit significantly greater treatment persistence and usefulness with secukinumab compared to adalimumab over a 12-month period as published in Rheumatology and Therapy. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating long-term treatment adherence in chronic disease management.

The study analyzed data from the Medical Data Vision database, identifying 182 patients who initiated secukinumab between February 2015 and September 2020. Of these, 171 patients were matched via propensity score to an equal number of patients initiating adalimumab during the same timeframe. Patients were followed until treatment discontinuation, death, or end of the study period.

Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that 12-month persistence was 68.3% for patients receiving secukinumab. Notably, the median persistence duration for secukinumab was significantly longer at 27.8 months compared to 12.5 months for adalimumab (p = 0.002).

Beyond persistence, secukinumab also demonstrated superior treatment usefulness. At 12 months, 47.0% of secukinumab-treated patients met criteria for usefulness, nearly double the 22.2% observed in the adalimumab group (p < 0.001).

“Patients with PsA showed higher persistence with secukinumab than with adalimumab,” the authors reported, emphasizing that persistence and perceived treatment benefit are critical factors in chronic disease care.

Adverse events were comparable between groups. In the unmatched cohorts, 7.7% of secukinumab-treated patients and 9.1% of those receiving adalimumab experienced an adverse event of interest. The study did not indicate any unexpected safety signals.

The findings reinforce the role of treatment persistence as a proxy for real-world tolerability, satisfaction, and therapeutic efficacy. As the authors concluded, “Since PsA is a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment, long-term persistence and usefulness should be considered for the treatment choice.”

For practicing rheumatologists, these data support the consideration of secukinumab as a durable and well-tolerated option in the PsA treatment landscape. Incorporating persistence metrics into clinical decision-making may help optimize long-term disease control and patient outcomes.

Reference
Kameda H, Ishii K, Kiriyama J, Mikami T, Uratsuji H, Morita A. Secukinumab persistence in patients with psoriatic arthritis: an adalimumab-matched retrospective cohort database study (flyway). Rheumatol Ther. 2025;12(3):493-511. doi:10.1007/s40744-025-00749-7