Real-World Evidence of Effectiveness and Safety of Vedolizumab for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Taiwan: A Prospective Nationwide Registry (VIOLET) Study

BACKGROUND

This nationwide prospective registry study investigated the real-world effectiveness, safety, and persistence of vedolizumab (VDZ) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients in Taiwan. Disease relapse rates after VDZ discontinuation due to reimbursement restriction were assessed.

METHODS

Data were collected prospectively (January 2018 to May 2020) from the Taiwan Society of IBD registry.

RESULTS

Overall, 274 patients (147 ulcerative colitis [UC] patients, 127 Crohn's disease [CD] patients) were included. Among them, 70.7% with UC and 50.4% with CD were biologic-naïve. At 1 year, 76.0%, 58.0%, 35.0%, and 62.2% of UC patients and 57.1%, 71.4%, 33.3%, and 30.0% of CD patients achieved clinical response, clinical remission, steroid-free remission, and mucosal healing, respectively. All patients underwent hepatitis B and tuberculosis screening before initiating biologics, and prophylaxis was recommended when necessary. One hepatitis B carrier, without antiviral prophylaxis due to economic barriers, had hepatitis B reactivation during steroid tapering and increasing azathioprine dosage, which was controlled with an antiviral agent. No tuberculosis reactivation was noted. At 12 months, non-reimbursement-related treatment persistence rates were 94.0% and 82.5% in UC and CD patients, respectively. Moreover, 75.3% of IBD patients discontinued VDZ due to mandatory drug holiday. Relapse rates after VDZ discontinuation at 6 and 12 months were 36.7% and 64.3% in CD patients and 42.9% and 52.4% in UC patients, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings demonstrated VDZ effectiveness in IBD patients in Taiwan, with high treatment persistence rates and favorable safety profiles. A substantial IBD relapse rate was observed in patients who had mandatory drug holiday.

Effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab for ulcerative colitis: a single-center retrospective real-world study in China

Introduction: The effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab (VDZ) against ulcerative colitis (UC) have been validated in several randomized controlled trials and real-world studies in Western countries. However, there are few studies on VDZ in Asia, and the follow-up period for these studies is generally short. Therefore, this study evaluates the long-term effectiveness and safety of VDZ in Chinese patients with UC. Methods: This retrospective study included patients with moderate to severe UC treated with VDZ between September 2019 and April 2022 at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine Zhejiang University. Clinical response and remission were assessed using the patient reported outcomes and the partial Mayo Score, and mucosal remission and healing were assessed using the Mayo Endoscopy Score. The primary endpoint was defined as clinical remission at week 14, and secondary endpoints included clinical response and steroid-free clinical remission at week 14, clinical response, clinical remission, and steroid-free clinical remission at week 52, and mucosal remission and healing at weeks 14 ± 8 and 52 ± 8. Results: Overall, 64 patients with moderate to severe UC were enrolled. The clinical response, clinical remission, and steroid-free clinical remission rates at week 14 were 73.4% (47/64), 65.6% (42/64), and 54.7% (35/64), respectively. Mucosal remission and healing rates at week 14 ± 8 were 64.7% (22/34) and 38.2% (13/34), respectively. A total of 48 patients were treated with VDZ for 52 weeks. Based on intention-to-treat analysis, the clinical response, clinical remission, and steroid-free clinical remission rates at week 52 were 68.8% (44/64), 64.1% (41/64), and 64.1% (41/64), respectively. Mucosal remission and healing rates at week 52 ± 8 were 70.6% (12/17) and 35.3% (6/17), respectively. During the follow-up period, the most common adverse event was skin rash (6/64). No cases of acute infusion reactions, delayed allergic reactions, new hepatitis B infections, active tuberculosis, or malignant tumors were reported. Conclusion: In this single-center retrospective real-world study, the effectiveness of long-term use of VDZ for Chinese patients with UC was similar to the outcomes previously reported in other geographical regions and populations; no new safety signals were found compared with other registered studies.

The real-world outcomes of vedolizumab in patients with ulcerative colitis in Korea: a multicenter retrospective study

AIM

This study examined the real-world effectiveness and safety outcomes of vedolizumab in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients who had failed anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy in Korea.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review study was conducted in adults with moderate to severely active UC who had failed anti-TNF agents and subsequently received vedolizumab. Clinical response and clinical remission at week 6 and 14 after vedolizumab initiation was evaluated. Safety outcomes were also reported. Outcome rates were compared with a matched sub-cohort derived from the open-label sub-cohort of the GEMINI 1 trial using the optimal matching method.

RESULTS

A total of 105 patients (mean age, 45.3 years; 63.8% male) were included. At week 6, 55.8% (n = 43/77) achieved a clinical response and 18.2% (n = 14/77) achieved clinical remission. At week 14, 73.2% (n = 52/71) achieved a clinical response and 39.4% (n = 28/71) achieved clinical remission. When non-response imputation was used, the clinical response rate at week 6 and week 14 were 40.1% (n = 43/105) and 49.5% (n = 52/105) respectively. Of the 105 patients, 16 (15.2%) experienced at least one adverse event. The matched analysis showed that the clinical response rate at week 6 was higher in the matched sub-cohort of this study (24/47, 51.1%) versus the matched sub-cohort from the GEMINI 1 open-label cohort (12/47, 34.3%, p = 0.019). The clinical remission rates at week 6 were similar (7/47, 14.9% versus 9/47, 19.1%, p = 0.785).

CONCLUSIONS

In the real-world setting, vedolizumab is effective and well tolerated within the first 14 weeks of use in Korea. The proportion of patients experiencing clinical response and clinical remission at 6 and 14 weeks appeared to be largely consistent with that observed in real-world studies from other regions and populations.

Efficacy and safety of vedolizumab in Crohn's disease in patients from Asian countries in the GEMINI 2 study

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The efficacy and safety of vedolizumab in moderate-to-severely active Crohn's disease (CD) were demonstrated in the GEMINI 2 study (NCT00783692). This post-hoc exploratory analysis aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of vedolizumab in the subgroup of patients from Asian countries.

METHODS

During the induction phase (doses at day 1, 15), clinical remission, enhanced clinical response, and change in C-reactive protein at 6 weeks; during the maintenance phase, clinical remission, enhanced clinical response, glucocorticoid-free remission and durable clinical remission at 52 weeks, were the efficacy outcomes of interest. Efficacy and safety of vedolizumab compared to placebo were assessed in Asian countries (Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) using descriptive analyses.

RESULTS

During the induction phase, in Asian countries (n = 51), 14.7% of the vedolizumab-treated patients achieved clinical remission at week 6 compared to none with placebo (difference, 14.7%; 95% confidence interval, 15.8%-43.5%). In non-Asian countries (n = 317), the remission rate at week 6 with vedolizumab was 14.5%. During maintenance, in Asian countries, clinical remission rates at 52 weeks with vedolizumab administered every 4 weeks, vedolizumab administered every 8 weeks and placebo were 41.7%, 36.4%, and 0%, respectively; while enhanced clinical response rates were 41.7%, 63.6%, and 42.9%, respectively. During induction, 39.7% of patients with vedolizumab experienced an adverse event compared to 58.8% of patients with placebo, and vedolizumab was generally well-tolerated.

CONCLUSIONS

This post-hoc analysis demonstrates the treatment effect and safety of vedolizumab in moderateto-severely active CD in patients from Asian countries.