Omalizumab and adalimumab: a winning couple

Abstract

Introduction: We report a case of a young female patient, previously affected by psoriatic arthritis, and treated with adalimumab, who developed a chronic spontaneous urticaria and started a concomitant therapy with omalizumab. Methods & results: A 50% reduction of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (from 7 at baseline to 4 in weeks 12 and 24) and a complete reset of the Urticaria Activity Score for 7 days (from 27 at baseline to 0 in weeks 12 and 24) were recorded. During all treatment with omalizumab, administering of adalimumab was continued. Due to complete control of urticaria symptoms, the patient stopped treatment with omalizumab after 24 weeks. Conclusion: The combination of adalimumab and omalizumab could offer a favorable efficacy and safety profile. The synergistic action of the two biological drugs in reducing systemic inflammation could be responsible for a shorter time to obtain clinical response.

Keywords: adalimumab; autoimmune disorders; biologics; chronic spontaneous urticaria; omalizumab; psoriatic arthritis.