26rhk223 10.3205/26rhk223 urn:nbn:de:0183-26rhk2231 Meeting Abstract Möckel Möckel Luis L

UCB, Monheim am Rhein, Deutschland

author Schildgen Schildgen Gwendolyn G

Insight Health GmbH, Waldems-Esch, Deutschland

author Möllers Möllers Tobias T

UCB, Monheim am Rhein, Deutschland

author Dombrowsky Dombrowsky Wojciech W

UCB, Monheim am Rhein, Deutschland

author Pannen Pannen Hans Derk HD

UCB, Monheim am Rhein, Deutschland

author Schiener Schiener Claudio C

Insight Health GmbH, Waldems-Esch, Deutschland

author German Medical Science GMS Publishing House

Düsseldorf

610 20260909 engl This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Dieser Artikel ist ein Open-Access-Artikel und steht unter den Lizenzbedingungen der Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (Namensnennung). M0656 223 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie Deutsche Gesellschaft für Orthopädische Rheumatologie Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendrheumatologie 54. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie und Klinische Immunologie (DGRh), 36. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendrheumatologie (GKJR), 40. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Orthopädische Rheumatologie (DGORh) Deutscher Rheumatologiekongress 2026 Spondyloarthritiden Leipzig 20260909 20260912 SpA.23 TextIntroduction: The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the use of bimekizumab (BKZ) and secukinumab (SEC) with a focus on the use of predefined co-medications, in patients treated in routine rheumatology clinical practice in Germany.Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the Germany-wide Insight Health prescription claims database, covering approximately 64 million statutorily insured individuals. Included were adult new users of BKZ or SEC (first prescription = index date) with at least 9-months pre-index data who were treated in a rheumatology setting. Median treatment persistence was assessed using Kaplan–Meier methodology, defining discontinuation as the absence of a refill within the expected package duration plus a 90-day grace period. Changes in the mean number of prescriptions for pain medication, methotrexate (MTX), glucocorticoids (GC) and antidepressants were evaluated across predefined post-index intervals using the 6-month pre-index period as reference.Results: A total of 1,098 bio-naïve and 3,489 bio-experienced BKZ patients, and 6,092 bio-naïve and 6,432 bio-experienced SEC patients, were included. Median persistence in BKZ patients was 12.7 months for bio-naïve patients and 15.1 months for bio-experienced patients (SEC: 9.5 and 10.2 months, respectively).The analysis of co-medications demonstrated clinically relevant reductions under BKZ treatment (Table 1 ). In bio-naïve BKZ patients needing the respective co-medications, a relevant decrease for number of prescriptions of pain medication (−29%), antidepressants (−35%) and GCs (−45%) 19–24 months post-index was observed (SEC: −11%, −7%, −15%). Among bio-experienced BKZ patients, prescriptions for pain medication, GCs and antidepressants declined by −21%, −14% and −25%; in bio-experienced SEC patients by −9%, −10% and−7%, respectively.Conclusion: The study suggests potential differences in co-medication patterns between BKZ and SEC users. In rheumatology patients, treatment with BKZ led to meaningful reductions in pain medication, glucocorticoids, and antidepressants in both bio-naïve and bio-experienced patients, suggesting a stronger improvement in overall disease burden with BKZ. In addition, treatment with BKZ was associated with longer treatment persistence compared with SEC in both bio-naïve and bio-experienced patients.Disclosures: LM, TM, WD, and HDP are employees of UCB pharma. GS and CS received funding from UCB for this study. 11

Table 1: Mean number of co-medication prescriptions under BKZ or SEC treatment compared to the last 6 months prior to index (Ref, reference); % change based on aggregated mean change; number of patients varies depending on time period and co-medication

1 0 0 0