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January 12, 2026
2 min read
Key takeaways:
- Patients treated with concomitant ixekizumab and tirzepatide met PsA and weight reduction endpoints.
- Safety data showed no signals that had not been previously reported for each medication.
Combination therapy with ixekizumab and tirzepatide bested monotherapy with ixekizumab alone in both psoriatic arthritis and weight reduction endpoints, according to topline results announced by Eli Lilly & Co.
“While treatment guidelines for psoriatic arthritis recommend management of obesity, the reality is these two chronic diseases are often addressed separately and moving the needle in psoriatic arthritis has remained challenging,” Joseph F. Merola, MD, MMSc, professor and chair of the department of dermatology, professor of internal medicine in the division of rheumatic diseases, and professor in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said in a press release from Eli Lilly.
“The observed benefit with treatment using Taltz and Zepbound appears to meaningfully impact psoriatic disease activity, indicating that for many patients, PsA is an obesity-related condition,” added Merola, a member of the study’s steering committee. “This integrated therapy approach represents a potential paradigm shift and could lead to better outcomes for those living with both diseases.”
Joseph F. Merola
Researchers conducted a 52-week, phase 3b, randomized, multicenter, assessor-blinded, open-label study — called TOGETHER-PsA — to assess the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with ixekizumab (Taltz, Eli Lilly) and the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and glucagon-like peptide-1 therapy tirzepatide (Zepbound, Eli Lilly), vs. ixekizumab alone. The study cohort included 271 adults with both PsA and overweight or a weight-related condition. All treatments were administered subcutaneously.
The average BMI of the patient population was 37.6 kg/m2 across both study groups. More than 60% participants had previous experience with one or more advanced therapies. The proportion of patients achieving ACR50 response and 10% or more weight reduction at 36 weeks served as the primary endpoint.
According to the topline results, 31.7% of patients in the combination therapy group acheived both ACR50 response and at least 10% reduction in weight loss. By comparison, 0.8% of patients in the ixekizumab monotherapy group reached this dual outcome (P < .001).
Further results showed that combination therapy provided a 64% increase over ixekizumab monotherapy in ACR50 response — at 33.5% vs. 20.4% (P < .05).
Meanwhile, safety data showed no signals that had not been previously reported for each medication, according to the press release. Nausea, diarrhea, constipation and injection site reactions occurred in 5% or more patients in the combination therapy group. Injection site reactions and upper respiratory tract infections occurred in more than 5% of patients in the monotherapy arm.
“This is the first controlled pharmacologic study to demonstrate that treatment of obesity improved PsA disease measures, and we are particularly impressed with the findings showing significant improvement in PsA disease activity with Zepbound used alongside Taltz, an already rapid-acting and durable PsA treatment,” Mark Genovese, MD, senior vice president of Eli Lilly immunology development, said in the release. “These results demonstrate how an integrated treatment approach has the potential to improve the standard of care in a compelling and comprehensive way.”
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