Apremilast for the Treatment of Mild-to-Moderate Hidradenitis Suppurativa in a Prospective, Open-Label, Phase 2 Study

Background: Treatment options are limited for patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). Apremilast, an oral phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor, may offer an attractive therapeutic option for patients with mild-to-moderate HS. Methods: This open-label, phase 2 clinical trial enrolled adults (≥18 years of age) with mild-to-moderate HS. Patients received apremilast 30mg twice daily for 24 weeks after a 5-day titration period. Therapy was discontinued at week 24; data were collected up to week 28. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Response 30 (HiSCR30), ie, proportion of patients with a ≥30% reduction in abscesses and nodules at week 16, was the primary endpoint. HiSCR50, ie, ≥50% reduction, was also explored. Mean changes from baseline to week 24 in the modified Sartorius, Physician’s Global Assessment, visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test. Adverse events (AEs) were summarized. Results: Twenty patients (mean age, 32.5 years) were enrolled in the study. HiSCR30 was achieved in 65% of patients at weeks 16 and 24. A similar proportion of patients achieved HiSCR50. Significant mean improvements from baseline were observed for all assessments. At week 24, the overall Sartorius score improved from 35.6 to 13.9 (-21.7 change; P<0.001), the PGA score from 2.7 to 1.6 (-1.1 change; P<0.01), the VAS pain score from 27.6 to 10.9 (-16.8 change; P<0.05), and the DLQI score from 11.6 to 5.4 (-6.2 change; P<0.01). Diarrhea (20%), nausea (15%), and depression (10%) were the most commonly reported AEs. No serious AEs or deaths were reported. Conclusions: Apremilast was safe and effective in improving HS disease activity, pain, and QoL in patients with mild-to-moderate HS. These data suggest that apremilast may have a role in the early treatment of less severe HS. J Drugs Dermatol. 2019;18(2):170-176.