Treatment with lebrikizumab maintains skin and itch improvement through 5 years in adolescents and adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD), according to the ADlong long-term extension trial presented at EADV 2026.
“AD is a chronic, relapsing disease; therefore, treatment decisions need to consider the initial response, but importantly also whether improvements in skin signs and itch are sustained over time,” said Prof Stephan Weidinger from the Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany, in a press release.
“The findings from the ADlong study further extend the clinical evidence of lebrikizumab for up to 5 years of treatment and provide valuable data to inform discussions about long-term treatment in clinical practice,” he added.
ADlong was a 108‑week, open‑label extension study that enrolled 174 adolescents (aged 12–17 years, weighing ≥40 kg) with moderate‑to‑severe AD who had completed the 100‑week ADjoin extension. All participants received lebrikizumab 250 mg Q4W, with option to uptitrate to Q2W at the investigator’s discretion for those not maintaining clinical benefit. Topical corticosteroids were allowed to manage flares. [EADV 2026, abstract 313]
By week 108, a high proportion of patients who continued lebrikizumab treatment achieved 75-percent and 90-percent improvements in the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI75: 92.9 percent; EASI90: 73.8 percent).
Additionally, 66.7 percent of patients sustained an Investigator's Global Assessment score of 0 or 1, indicating clear or almost clear skin, while 78 percent achieved a Pruritus Numerical Rating Scale of ≤4.
“Taken together, most patients maintained very low levels of disease activity throughout this 2-year extension study,” said Weidinger.
Safety
The rate of treatment‑emergent adverse events (TEAEs) related to lebrikizumab was 12.1 percent, most of which were mild to moderate in severity.
Only five patients discontinued treatment due to TEAEs, and no deaths were reported.
Notably, most patients did not require any rescue medication or uptitration to Q2W during the study, as noted by Weidinger.
“The observed long-term safety profile of lebrikizumab Q4W remained consistent with that of previous studies in patients with moderate-to-severe AD, with no new safety signals observed,” said Weidinger.
“Overall, these open-label extension data support sustained disease control and a consistent safety profile in patients with up to 5 years of lebrikizumab exposure,” he concluded.