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Background: There is limited real-life evidence with brodalumab in patients with plaque psoriasis in Canada. Objectives: To examine real-world effectiveness of brodalumab in Canadian routine care with a focus on clinician and patient-reported outcomes, as well as measuring continuation rates and persistency. Methods: Retrospective analysis was conducted on data collected through the brodalumab patient support program (PSP) in Canada for patients initiating brodalumab between June 2018 (PSP launch)- June 2020 with a minimum of 16 weeks follow-up from first dose. Effectiveness was assessed by improvements in PASI, BSA and DLQI; continuation rates and persistency on therapy were reported. Results: Overall, 864 patients (male, 59%; median age, 52 years) were included in the analysis. In a subset of patients with both baseline and follow-up scores, statistically significant improvements were observed: PASI improved from 13.9 to 1.8, BSA improved from 16.6% to 2.5% and DLQI improved from 16.2 to 2.9. Brodalumab demonstrated high continuation rates (89.9%), with similar rates in biologic-naïve and biologic-experienced patients (92.1% and 88.6%, respectively) and in patients who received secukinumab or ixekizumab as their most recent biologic therapy (89.0% and 86.2%, respectively). Persistence at 6, 12, and 18 months was 82.0%, 69.9%, and 63.4%, respectively. Conclusions: The effectiveness of brodalumab was demonstrated in this Canadian routine care study, with significant improvements in disease severity and patient-reported outcomes. High continuation rates were achieved; including in patients previously treated with IL-17A inhibitors. Future studies will provide further evidence of brodalumab's benefits for the management of plaque psoriasis in the real-world setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rituximab (RTX) is increasingly used for the treatment of pemphigus and pemphigoid disorders. The high cost of RTX frequently limits its use and access. Objective: To determine the health system resources and costs associated with RTX treatment of pemphigus and pemphigoid. Methods: Health system resources and costs attributed to a convenience sample of 89 patients with either pemphigus or pemphigoid were identified, quantified, and valued 6 months prior to and following RTX initiation between May 2006 and August 2012. Overall cohort costs and costs per patient were calculated (2013 Can$). Results: The overall cohort cost for 6 months pre-RTX was $3.8 million and for 6 months post-RTX was $2.6 million. The average cost per patient decreased from $42,231 to $29,423 (30.3% decrease). The main cost driver was intravenous immunoglobulin. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that RTX is effective in reducing health system resources and the costs associated with the treatment of pemphigus and pemphigoid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]