LEO1825B_SILVERBERG4x4-V2


Treatment with tralokinumab improves health-related quality of life in adult patients with moderate 
to severe atopic dermatitis: results from a Phase 2b, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Objectives
• To evaluate the risk of developing ADAs with tralokinumab treatment in the Phase 2b study.  

• To investigate reports of anaphylaxis, or other severe hypersensitivity reactions, and 
compare the incidence of eye disorders, including conjunctivitis, between the placebo and 
tralokinumab treatment groups. 

Methods

Study design
• Patients were randomised 1:1:1:1 to receive subcutaneous tralokinumab (45 mg, 150 mg or 

300 mg) or placebo every 2 weeks for 12 weeks on a TCS background (Figure 1).  

• Concomitant Class 3 (World Health Organisation) TCS were administered at least once daily 
during the 2-week run-in and as needed throughout the treatment and follow-up periods.

Patients
• 

8) and with AD body surface area involvement 
of 10%, EASI score of 12, SCORAD of 25 and IGA of 3.

• Key exclusion criteria included: active dermatological conditions that may confound 
AD diagnosis, allergic or irritant contact dermatitis and history of anaphylaxis following 
any biologic therapy.

Measurement of anti-drug antibodies
• ADAs were measured using a validated electrochemiluminescence method (Meso Scale 

Discovery SECTOR Imager 6000). Samples for ADA response were taken at day 1 (prior to 
treatment) and weeks 4, 12 and 22.

Capture of anaphylaxis/serious hypersensitivity reactions 
• AEs associated with anaphylaxis/serious hypersensitivity were captured using the 

following standardised Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities queries: hypersensitivity, 
anaphylactic reaction and anaphylactic/anaphylactoid shock conditions.9 

Eye disorders
• Eye disorders, including but not limited to conjunctivitis, were extracted from the AEs 

occurring during treatment for all subjects in each treatment arm: placebo: n=51, 
tralokinumab 45 mg: n=50, tralokinumab 150 mg: n=51 and tralokinumab 300 mg: n=52.  

 — All events were included regardless of seriousness, causality or any other parameter of 
the AEs.  

• Cases of eye disorders were compared between placebo and tralokinumab arms.

Statistical analysis 
• Safety data were summarised descriptively according to the highest dosage received by 

each participant measured in the as-treated population.

Results

Patient characteristics
• Overall, 204 patients were randomised in the Phase 2b study and included in the as-treated 

population: 153 tralokinumab-treated patients and 51 placebo-treated patients.  

• Baseline demographics and disease characteristics were similar between treatment groups.7 

Anti-drug antibodies
• Three patients in the tralokinumab 45-mg group had pre-existing ADAs at baseline. These are 

likely to be the result of the ‘cut point’ for the ADA assay, which is typically set expecting some 
positive results.

• Only one tralokinumab-treated patient (300-mg group) had ADA formation, which 
was measured at week 22. The titre was low and had no impact on the observed 
pharmacokinetics of tralokinumab.  

 — No AEs were reported for this patient.

• 

Anaphylaxis/severe hypersensitivity reactions
• 

Eye disorders
• 

or all eye disorders between the placebo and pooled tralokinumab groups (Figure 2).

 — No dose-related trend was observed, as the greatest frequency of one or more eye 
disorders was reported for the tralokinumab 150-mg treatment group.

• 

Introduction
• Biologics, including human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), are currently 

diseases such as psoriasis1 and atopic dermatitis (AD).2  

• Potential safety concerns regarding the immunogenicity of biologics remain, 
including development of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) and adverse events 
(AEs) such as anaphylaxis and/or severe hypersensitivity reactions.3  

• 
conjunctivitis with treatment, as AEs of conjunctivitis were more frequently 
reported in patients treated with biologics targeting interleukin (IL)-13 
and IL-4.4,5  

• Tralokinumab is an IgG
4

6 and has been evaluated in a Phase 2b, randomised, 
double-blind, placebo-controlled study (NCT02347176) in adults with 
moderate to severe AD. 

 — Results of the study showed improvements in the Eczema Area and Severity 
Index (EASI), Investigator’s Global Assessment (IGA) and SCORing Atopic 
Dermatitis (SCORAD) scores with tralokinumab on a background of 
topical corticosteroids (TCS), with a favourable overall safety and 

7

Figure 1. Study design

Weeks
–6 –2 0 12 22

Follow-up
period

Primary
endpoint

Treatment
period

Run-in
period

Screening
period

Tralokinumab 300 mg SC Q2W + TCS
(n=52)

Tralokinumab 150 mg SC Q2W + TCS
(n=51)

Tralokinumab 45 mg SC Q2W + TCS
(n=50)

Patients with moderate to severe AD TCS TCS

Placebo SC Q2W + TCS
(n=51)

AD, atopic dermatitis; Q2W, every 2 weeks; SC, subcutaneous; TCS, topical corticosteroids.

27th EADV Congress, 12−16 September 2018, Paris, France

*Eye infection and iridocyclitis were reported by the same patient in the placebo group. 
†Three patients in the tralokinumab 150-mg group reported 
oedema; and 3) periorbital rash, eye swelling, increased lacrimation and allergic conjunctivitis. 
‡Staphylococcal eye infection.

Methods

Introduction

Figure 1. Study design

Weeks
–6 –2 0 12 22

Follow-up
period

Primary
endpoint

Treatment
period

Run-in
period

Screening
period

Tralokinumab 300 mg SC Q2W + TCS
(n=52)

Tralokinumab 150 mg SC Q2W + TCS
(n=51)

Tralokinumab 45 mg SC Q2W + TCS
(n=50)

Patients with moderate to severe AD TCS TCS

Placebo SC Q2W + TCS
(n=51)

AD, atopic dermatitis; Q2W, every 2 weeks; SC, subcutaneous; TCS, topical corticosteroids.

Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference, October 18-21, 2018, Las Vegas, NV

• Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, in� ammatory skin disease associated with 
skin barrier disruption and immune-mediated in� ammation characterised by 
increased levels of type 2 cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-13.1,2 

• Symptoms of AD include intense and debilitating itch, often leading to sleep 
disruption, anxiety or depression, and reduced health-related quality of life 
(HRQoL).3,4 

• The burden of AD may be assessed by dermatology-specific patient-reported 
outcome measures, including the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). 
However, it is also important to assess overall aspects of health and mental 
well-being in patients with AD and to determine how the burden of AD 
compares with other non-dermatologic health disorders via the use of generic 
HRQoL instruments, such as the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey version 2 
(SF-36v2). —The SF-36v2 is widely used in health research to assess overall 
HRQoL.5,6 

• Tralokinumab, a fully human IgG
4
 monoclonal antibody that speci�fically binds 

to, and neutralizes, IL-13,7 showed improvements in Eczema Area and Severity 
Index (EASI), Investigator’s Global Assessment (IGA), SCORing Atopic Dermatitis 
(SCORAD) and DLQI in a Phase 2b, randomised, double-blind, 
placebo-controlled study (NCT02347176) in adults with moderate to severe 
AD.8

• The tralokinumab Phase 2b study also included exploratory assessment of 
improvement in HRQoL in patients with moderate to severe AD.

Objective
• To analyse HRQoL improvement, as evaluated by the SF-36v2, in patients 

receiving tralokinumab as treatment for moderate to severe AD in the Phase 2b 
study.

Methods
Study design

• Patients were randomised (1:1:1:1) to tralokinumab (45 mg, 150 mg or 300 
mg) or placebo treatment every 2 weeks for 12 weeks on a background of 
topical corticosteroids (TCS) [Figure 1].

• Eligible patients were aged 18–75 years with physician-con�firmed diagnosis 
of AD for >1 year9 and with �10% body surface area involvement, EASI score of 
>12, SCORAD of >25 and IGA score of >3.

• Key exclusion criteria included: active dermatological conditions that may 
confound AD diagnosis, allergic or irritant contact dermatitis and history of 
anaphylaxis following any biologic therapy.

• Concomitant World Health Organisation (WHO) Class 3 TCS were administered 
at least once daily during the 2-week run-in and as needed throughout the 
treatment and follow-up periods.

SF-36v2
• The SF-36v2 includes eight scale scores measuring: bodily pain, general health, 

mental health, role limitations related to physical health problems, role 
limitations related to personal or emotional problems, social functioning, vitality 
and physical functioning, plus Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental 
Component Summary (MCS) scores.5,6 Higher scores indicate better health.5,6

• The SF-36v2 was assessed at baseline and at weeks 6, 12 and 22.

Statistical analyses
• SF-36v2 results at each study visit and changes from baseline for each 

post-baseline visit were reported, with descriptive statistics for each domain 
and summary score.

• All non-missing data for all patients were included in the analysis, up to the 
point of prohibited AD therapy being received.

• Mean change from baseline for each domain and summary score was analysed 
with mixed model with repeated measures, with treatment, visit and 
treatment-by-visit interaction as categorical factors and baseline SF-36v2 as 
covariate. Nominal p values for each domain and summary score were derived 
without adjustment for multiple testing.

• Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) was used to evaluate clinically 
relevant improvements (adjusted mean difference versus placebo: MCS, 3; PCS, 
2; bodily pain, 3; general health, 2; mental health, 3; role-physical, 3; 
role-emotional, 4; social functioning, 3; vitality, 2; physical functioning, 3).

• Results are presented for the tralokinumab 300-mg treatment and placebo 
treatment groups at week 12, as the tralokinumab 300-mg dose was chosen 
for further evaluation in Phase 3 trials.

Results
Patient characteristics
• Overall, 204 patients were randomised in the Phase 2b study; of these, 52 patients 

received tralokinumab 300 mg and 51 patients received placebo.

• Mean (standard deviation [SD]) age at baseline was 39.4 (14.5) years for placebo and 
35.7 (14.6) years for tralokinumab 300 mg; 43.1% (n=22) and 63.5% (n=33) of 
participants were male in the placebo and tralokinumab 300-mg groups, respectively.

• At baseline, mean (SD) EASI scores were 26.4 (12.6) and 27.3 (10.9) for the placebo and 
tralokinumab 300-mg groups, respectively.

HRQoL

• SF-36v2 data were available at baseline for 49 patients in the placebo group and 52 
patients in the tralokinumab 300-mg group.

• At baseline, mean (SD) MCS was 43.72 (13.23) for the placebo group and 43.02 (12.36) 
for the tralokinumab 300-mg group; mean (SD) PCS was 47.07 (7.94) and 47.20 (8.17), 
respectively (Table 1).

• At week 12, significantly improved SF-36v2 summary scores were seen in patients 
treated with tralokinumab 300 mg compared to placebo for both MCS (adjusted mean di� 
erence: 4.23; p=0.011) and PCS (adjusted mean difference: 4.26; p�0.001) [Table 1 and 
Figure 2].

• Significant improvements were also seen in all other domains for the tralokinumab 
300-mg group compared to placebo (i.e. bodily pain, general health, role-physical, 
role-emotional, social functioning, vitality, physical functioning), except for mental health, 
which showed a numerical increase but did not reach statistical significance. 

• MCS and PCS summary scores and all other domains, except for physical functioning, 
surpassed MCID for the tralokinumab 300-mg group compared to placebo (Figure 2)

Conclusions
• Treatment with tralokinumab 300 mg on a background of TCS provided significant and 

clinically relevant improvements over a broad range of HRQoL domains in adult patients 
with moderate to severe AD compared to placebo in this exploratory analysis of a Phase 
2b study.

• Moderate to severe AD was associated with a profoundly negative impact on both mental 
and physical aspects of patients’ lives at baseline.

• Phase 3 trials using the tralokinumab 300-mg dose are underway to further evaluate and 
confirm the impact that tralokinumab monotherapy (NCT03131648; NCT03160885) or 
tralokinumab in combination with TCS (NCT03363854) may have on reducing the 
disease burden of moderate to severe AD.

compared to placebo at week 12 for SF-36v2 domains, with MCID indicated 
for each score

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

 
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 c
o

m
p

ar
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o

 p
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MCS PCS Bodily
pain

General
health

Mental
health

Role-
physical

Role-
emotional

Social
functioning

Vitality Physical
functioning

p=0.011 p 0.001 p=0.001 p=0.014 p=0.079 p=0.002 p=0.007 p=0.003 p=0.013 p=0.031

MCID

Summary; SE, standard error; SF-36v2, 36-Item Short Form Health Survey version 2.

References
1. Silverberg JI, Kantor R. Dermatol Clin 2017; 35: 327–334.

2. Nutten S. Ann Nutr Metab 2015; 66 (Suppl 1): 8–16.
3. Eckert L et al. J Am Acad Dermatol 2017; 77: 274–279.

4. Drucker AM et al. J Invest Dermatol 2017; 137: 26–30.

5. Ware JE, Jr, Sherbourne CD. Med Care 1992; 30: 473–483.

6. Ware JE, Jr et al. User’s Manual for the SF-36v2 Health Survey. 2nd ed. QualityMetric Incorporated; 
Lincoln, RI: 2007.

7. Popovic B et al. J Mol Biol 2017; 429: 208–219.

8. Wollenberg A et al.  J Allergy Clin Immunol 2018; pii: S0091-6749(18)30850-9. doi: 10.1016/j.
jaci.2018.05.029. [Epub ahead of print].

9. 

Acknowledgements
The tralokinumab Phase 2b study was sponsored by MedImmune. This poster was sponsored by LEO Pharma. 
Medical writing and editorial support was provided by Natalie Prior and Jane Beck from Complete HealthVizion, 
funded by LEO Pharma. 

Table 1. Summary of SF-36v2 scores at baseline and adjusted mean change in SF-36v2 from baseline at week 12 

MCS PCS Bodily pain General 
health

Mental 
health

Role-
physical

Role- 
emotional

Social 
functioning

Vitality Physical 
functioning

Placebo

SF-36v2 score at baseline, mean (SD)
n=49

Mean 
(SD)

43.72 
(13.23)

47.07 
(7.94)

45.10 
(10.41)

42.24 
(9.31)

45.11 
(11.65)

45.32 
(11.79)

43.71 
(13.36)

45.30 
(11.58)

45.37 
(11.06)

50.01 
(8.36)

Adjusted mean change from baseline 
in SF-36v2 at week 12,* mean (SE)
n=36

Mean 
(SE)

1.18 
(1.222)

–0.21 
(0.907)

–0.43 
(1.369)

0.00 
(1.022)

1.03 
(1.297)

–0.02 
(1.109)

0.20 
(1.278)

1.57 
(1.271)

1.39 
(1.208)

0.66 
(0.883)

Tralokinumab 300 mg 

SF-36v2 score at baseline, mean (SD)
n=52

Mean 
(SD)

43.02 
(12.36)

47.20 
(8.17)

44.64 
(11.55)

42.47 
(10.16)

43.98 
(11.18)

45.70 
(10.81)

44.83 
(13.30)

43.99 
(11.64)

44.37 
(10.71)

50.22 
(8.08)

Adjusted mean change from baseline 
in SF-36v2 at week 12,* mean (SE)
n=46

Mean 
(SE)

5.41 
(1.095)

4.05 
(0.828)

5.63 
(1.242)

3.43 
(0.934)

4.12 
(1.164)

4.80 
(1.008)

4.95 
(1.160)

6.81 
(1.138)

5.47 
(1.087)

3.26 
(0.799)

*Analysis of SF-36v2 change from baseline with repeated measures, excluding data after prohibited medications. 

MCS, Mental Component Summary; PCS, Physical Component Summary; SD, standard deviation; SE, standard error; SF-36v2, 36-Item Short Form Health Survey version 2.

Jonathan I Silverberg,1 Nana Kragh,2 Emma Guttman-Yassky,3 Andreas Wollenberg4

1Departments of Dermatology, Preventive Medicine, and Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; LEO Pharma A /S, Ballerup, Denmark; Department of Dermatology and the 
Laboratory for Inflammatory Skin Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany