Key clinical point: Upadacitinib demonstrated superior efficacy over dupilumab for treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) with no new safety signals identified.
Major finding: At week 16, a higher proportion of patients achieved 75% improvement in Eczema Area and Severity Index with upadacitinib vs dupilumab (71.0% vs 61.1%; P = .006). Rates of serious treatment-emergent adverse events leading to drug discontinuation in upadacitinib vs dupilumab were 2.9% vs 1.2%, with no new safety risks observed for upadacitinib.
Study details: Findings are 24-week results of Heads up , a phase 3b trial including 692 adults with moderate-to-severe AD who were randomly assigned to receive oral upadacitinib, 30 mg once daily, or subcutaneous dupilumab, 300 mg every alternate week.
Disclosures: This study was funded by AbbVie. The authors declared serving as speaker, consultant, scientific advisor, clinical study investigator, and/or receiving personal fees and grants from various sources including AbbVie. Four authors declared being employees and/or shareholders of AbbVie.
Source: Blauvelt A et al. JAMA Dermatol. 2021 Aug 4. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2021.3023 .