Stoimen Dimitrov
Stoimen is an assistant professor at the Clinic of Rheumatology at the University Hospital “St. Marina”, Medical University of Varna, Bulgaria. His major research interests are the application of artificial intelligence in imaging and laboratory diagnostics in rheumatology, particularly nailfold capillaroscopy, and targeted therapies in inflammatory arthritis. Stoimen is a member of the EMEUNET Education Sub-Committee, Publishing Coordinator of the journal Rheumatology (Bulgaria) and a member of SLEuro.
| POSTER 0344 | Sunday, 08.11.2026 10:30 Poster Session: Spondyloarthritis Including Psoriatic Arthritis – Treatment Poster A Presenting author: Catherine Bakewell (USA) Title: A Phase 4, Prospective, Open-Label Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Adding Tirzepatide After Initiation of Ixekizumab in Adults With Psoriatic Arthritis and Overweight or Obesity  TOGETHER AMPLIFY-PsA is a phase 4, prospective, open-label, single-arm study conducted in the United States, evaluating the real-world effectiveness of adding tirzepatide to ongoing ixekizumab therapy (approximately 3 months) in adults with active PsA and overweight or obesity. Approximately 200 patients will be enrolled. The primary endpoints are the proportions of patients achieving normalised physical function (HAQ-DI ≤0.5) and ≥10% weight reduction at Month 12. This abstract reports the study design; outcome results are not yet reported. |
| POSTER 0350 | Sunday, 08.11.2026 10:30 Poster Session: Spondyloarthritis Including Psoriatic Arthritis – Treatment Poster A Presenting author: Lianne Gensler (USA) Title: Bimekizumab Cardiovascular-Related Safety and Impact on Cardiometabolic Markers in Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis with High Levels of Systemic Inflammation: 3-Year Results from Phase 3 This post hoc analysis of pooled 3-year phase 3 and open-label extension data (axSpA, n=586; PsA, n=1,112) evaluated cardiometabolic markers and cardiovascular safety of bimekizumab in patients with high baseline systemic inflammation (hs-CRP >10 mg/L or elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio). Reductions in hs-CRP and NLR were sustained to Year 3; blood pressure and BMI remained stable, whereas lipid levels were numerically higher. No adjudicated MACE occurred in axSpA and incidence rates were low in PsA, with safety consistent across subgroups. |
| POSTER 1319 | Monday, 09.11.2026 10:30 Poster Session: Spondyloarthritis Including Psoriatic Arthritis – Treatment Poster B Presenting author: Dafna Gladman (Canada) Title: Improvement in the Axial Domain With Deucravacitinib Through Week 52 in Patients With PsA and Axial Involvement: 2 Randomized, Controlled Phase 3 Trials This post hoc analysis of the phase 3 POETYK PsA-1 and PsA-2 trials evaluated axial domain measures with deucravacitinib 6 mg once daily in patients with PsA and investigator-defined axial involvement (approximately 15% of each trial population). At Week 16, deucravacitinib significantly improved BASDAI 50 and ASDAS clinically important improvement rates versus placebo in PsA-2, but not in PsA-1. Improvements continued through Week 52 in both trials. |
| POSTER 1328 | Monday, 09.11.2026 10:30 Poster Session: Spondyloarthritis Including Psoriatic Arthritis – Treatment Poster B Presenting author: Lakshya Motwani (USA) Title: Risk of Psoriatic Arthritis in Patients with Psoriasis on Biologic Therapy This systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 observational cohort studies (2006–2026) examined the association between biologic class and incident PsA in adults with psoriasis. Compared with TNF inhibitors, the risk of developing PsA was lower with IL-23 inhibitors (pooled HR 0.57; 95% CI 0.50–0.65; four studies) and IL-12/23 inhibitors (HR 0.62; 95% CI 0.50–0.77; four studies). Evidence comparing biologics with methotrexate or no therapy was inconclusive, and data comparing IL-17 with IL-23 inhibitors were scarce. |
| POSTER 2304 | Tuesday, 10.11.2026 10:30 Poster Session: Spondyloarthritis Including Psoriatic Arthritis – Treatment Poster C Presenting author: M. Magrey (USA) Title: Real-World Comparative Risk of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events and Venous Thromboembolism with Biologics Versus JAK Inhibitors in Psoriatic Arthritis This retrospective TriNetX cohort study compared the risk of a composite of MACE and venous thromboembolism across advanced therapy classes in 21,569 biologic- and JAK inhibitor-naïve adults with PsA, using JAK inhibitors as reference and inverse probability of treatment weighting. No significant differences were observed during the first two years. At 2–5 years, TNF inhibitors (HR 0.50) and IL-17 inhibitors (HR 0.45) were associated with a significantly lower risk than JAK inhibitors, whereas IL-23 and IL-12/23 inhibitors showed no significant difference. |
| POSTER 2311 | Tuesday, 10.11.2026 10:30 Poster Session: Spondyloarthritis Including Psoriatic Arthritis – Treatment Poster C Presenting author: Handan Yarkan Tuğsal (Turkey) Title: Switch Versus Swap After First Biologic or Targeted Synthetic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drug in Axial Spondyloarthritis: A Meta-analysis This meta-analysis of 30 reports compared within-class switching and mechanism swapping after failure of a first biologic or targeted synthetic DMARD in axSpA. Pooled drug survival was comparable between strategies (0.67 for switch and 0.63 for swap), with substantial heterogeneity (I² >93%). Pooled overall treatment response at 24–52 weeks was 0.37 with switching, and 0.39 in randomised trials and 0.26 in observational studies of swapping. The highest ASAS40 response (0.53) was observed in randomised trials of the swap strategy. |
| ORAL 2944 | Wednesday, 11.11.2026 10:15 Abstract Session: Spondyloarthritis Including Psoriatic Arthritis – Treatment Presenting author: Denis Poddubnyy (Canada) Title: Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society Points to Consider for the Management of Difficult-to-Manage, including Treatment-Refractory, Axial Spondyloarthritis ASAS developed Points to Consider for the management of difficult-to-manage (D2M) axSpA, including treatment-refractory disease, informed by a member survey (147 responses). The final set comprises four overarching principles and ten points, covering reassessment of the diagnosis and mimicking conditions, objective confirmation of inflammatory activity, treatment adherence, extra-musculoskeletal manifestations, comorbidities, non-pharmacological interventions and individualised alternative treatment strategies. Agreement was high (mean 9.2–9.8) and 91.3% of ASAS full members endorsed the statements. Implementation may reduce unnecessary b/tsDMARD switching. |