Ustekinumab Is Associated with Real-World Long-Term Effectiveness and Improved Health-Related Quality of Life in Crohn's Disease

Long-term real-world data of ustekinumab in Crohn's disease: the Stockholm ustekinumab study

Background

Ustekinumab is used to treat inflammatory bowel disease mainly in patients failing anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-agents.

Objectives

To provide real-world data in unselected patients with Crohn's disease (CD), treated with ustekinumab.

Design

Longitudinal retrospective study at four hospitals in Stockholm, Sweden.

Methods

Disease activity (Harvey-Bradshaw index and physician global assessment), laboratory parameters, endoscopic findings and drug persistence were assessed. Follow-up data were obtained in patients that stopped ustekinumab.

Results

In total, 322 patients (median age 38 years, 48% women) were included. All had luminal disease and 22% also fistulizing disease. A total of 271 (84%) had failed ⩾1 and 148 (46%) ⩾2 anti-TNF drugs; 34% failed vedolizumab. At inclusion, 93% had active disease; 28% were on oral corticosteroids and 18% on thiopurines. The median follow-up on treatment was 13.5 months; overall 67% were followed at least 24 months. By intention to treat analysis, response rate at 3 and 12 months was 43% and 42%, respectively. Among patients with ongoing ustekinumab, 19% were in steroid-free remission at 3 months and 64% at 12 months. The median faecal calprotectin level decreased from 460 µg/g at baseline to 156 µg/g at 3 months and was 182 µg/g at 12 months. C-reactive protein remained stable at 4 mg/L whereas serum albumin increased slightly. About 31% of patients were withdrawn during the first 12 months, mainly due to persisting disease activity 21%, adverse events 5%, bowel surgery 0.6% or malignancy 0.3%. The overall persistence on ustekinumab was 88%, 51%, 34% and 20% at 3, 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively. Within 12 months following withdrawal of ustekinumab in 121 patients, 64% had active disease most of the time, 68% needed another biologic and 24% underwent surgery.

Conclusion

Among difficult-to-treat patients with CD, ustekinumab was effective in the majority, with high drug persistence at 12 and 24 months in combination with a favourable safety profile.

Comparative effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab at different intervals of maintenance phase in inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Ustekinumab has two alternative drug maintenance intervals for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), every 8 weeks (Q8W) and every 12 weeks (Q12W). The current study aimed at evaluating the comparative efficacy and safety of the two maintenance intervals in patients with IBD. A systematic search on PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE was carried out. The relative risk (RR) was pooled for efficacy and safety outcomes between the two intervals at various follow-up time points, categorized as short term (less than 44 weeks), medium term (about 92 weeks), and long term (about 152 weeks). A total of 14 studies with 1448 patients were included. Q8W didn't result in a remarkably higher proportion of clinical remission compared to Q12W at short term (RR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.83-1.16), medium term (RR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.91-1.20), and long term (RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.91-1.26). Similarly, no substantial differences exist at short term in clinical response (RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.85-1.17), endoscopic remission (RR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.26-3.69), and histologic improvement (RR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.93-1.36) between the two intervals. For safety outcomes, the RR values for any adverse events in the short, medium, and long term were 1.10 (95% CI, 1.00-1.21), 1.14 (95% CI, 1.08-1.20), and 1.12 (95% CI, 1.07-1.17) for Q8W versus Q12W. Finally, we conclude that ustekinumab maintenance therapy administered every 8 and 12 weeks showed similar effectiveness in achieving efficacy outcomes in IBD patients, and most safety outcomes were significantly better for Q12W during the maintenance phase.

Ustekinumab in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Evolving Paradigms

Inflammatory bowel diseases, comprising Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic, relapsing, and remitting immune-mediated inflammatory diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Ustekinumab (UST) is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the p40 subunit of the anti-interleukin (IL) 12/23. Pivotal trials (CERTIFI and UNITI-IM for CD, UNIFI for UC) established the efficacy of UST for the induction and maintenance of remission in both CD and UC, with the most favorable results in naïve patients to biologics. In recent years, a wealth of 'real-world' data has emerged supporting positive clinical, endoscopic, and histological outcomes in patients treated with UST, as well as reassuring safety data. More recently, the results of the first head-to-head trials of UST and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists were reported. Moreover, a number of studies exploring the role of UST in specific clinical settings, such as perianal CD, postoperative complications and recurrence, extraintestinal manifestations, chronic antibiotic-refractory pouchitis, and pregnancy, were reported. This review explores the results reported to date on UST, including those from pivotal trials, real-world data, and emerging studies regarding therapeutic drug monitoring and immunogenicity. The safety profile of UST was also reviewed.

Clinical use of biologics for Crohn's disease in adults: lessons learned from real-world studies

INTRODUCTION

The therapeutic armamentarium for managing Crohn's disease (CD) has expanded significantly in recent decades. Several biologics with three different mechanisms of action [anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, anti-integrin α4β7, and anti-IL 12/23] are currently available to manage CD.

AREA COVERED

This narrative review aims to summarize the most significant efficacy and safety data on the use of infliximab (IFX), adalimumab (ADA), vedolizumab (VDZ) and ustekinumab (UST) for the treatment of CD obtained from studies conducted in the real world (RW), compared to the results of randomized clinical trials (RCTs).

EXPERT OPINION

RW studies reported that biologic agents included in this analysis have higher remission rates and lower adverse event rates than findings from RCTs for treating patients with CD. All biological agents have proven effective and safe in RW studies, even when using biosimilars or switching to subcutaneous administration of the molecules for which they are available. Finally, anti-TNF-α agents, particularly IFX, have a higher rate of adverse events (AEs) than VDZ and UST. Therefore, patients at higher risk of AEs may benefit from other biologics than anti-TNF-α. However, further long-term RW studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Long-term safety of brazikumab in the open-label period of a randomized phase 2a study of patients with Crohn's disease

BACKGROUND

Short-term efficacy and safety of brazikumab (MEDI2070), a human monoclonal antibody and anti-p19 subunit inhibitor of interleukin-23, was demonstrated in a phase 2a trial in patients with moderate-to-severe active Crohn's disease (CD). We report brazikumab long-term safety and tolerability from the open-label period of this phase 2a study.

METHODS

Patients who completed the 12-week, double-blind induction period were eligible for inclusion in an open-label period where all patients received subcutaneous brazikumab (210 mg) every 4 weeks for 100 weeks. Patients had moderate-to-severe active CD and had failed or were intolerant to ≥ 1 anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) agent. Safety assessments included treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs); further assessments were pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity.

RESULTS

Of the 104 patients who entered the open-label period, 57 (54.8%) continued to the end of the open-label period and 47 (45.2%) discontinued brazikumab. The most common reasons for discontinuation were lack of response (14.4%), patient decision (12.5%), and TEAEs (11.5%). In total, 44 (84.6%) in the group switching from placebo to brazikumab (placebo/brazikumab) and 43 (82.7%) in the group continuing brazikumab (brazikumab/brazikumab) experienced 1 or more TEAEs. Most TEAEs were mild-to-moderate in severity. Common TEAEs included nasopharyngitis and headache. Numbers of treatment-emergent serious adverse events (TESAEs) were similar between groups. Infections occurred in 40.4% of patients in the placebo/brazikumab group and 50% in the brazikumab/brazikumab group. There were 5 TESAEs of infection, none of which were opportunistic. No major adverse cardiac events, malignancies, or deaths were reported.

CONCLUSIONS

Brazikumab was well tolerated with an acceptable safety profile over a 100-week period in patients with moderate-to-severe active CD who failed or were intolerant to 1 or more anti-TNFα agents.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT01714726; registered October 26, 2012.

Effectiveness and Safety of Ustekinumab for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

The use of ustekinumab in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is off-label and the data are limited. We conducted a systematic review evaluating the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in pediatric IBD.

METHODS

We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane databases for studies of ustekinumab in children and adolescents with IBD investigating clinical remission, clinical response, corticosteroid-free (CS-free) remission, endoscopic remission/response, or safety up to March 17, 2023. A random-effects model was used for calculating summary estimates.

RESULTS

Eleven studies, comprising 370 patients were included. For Crohn's disease (CD), the pooled clinical remission rates were 34% (73/204) at 8-16 weeks and 46% (60/129) at 1 year. The pooled CS-free clinical remission rates were 23% (10/44) at 8-16 weeks and 45% (42/96) at 1 year. For ulcerative colitis (UC)/IBD unspecified (IBD-U), the pooled CS-free clinical remission rates were 24% (6/25) at 26 weeks and 46% (16/35) at 1 year. Endoscopic remission was found in 0-37.5% of CD and 63.6% of UC. Serious adverse events were reported in 3.5% of patients. About one half of patients required reduction in dose intervals and 62.75% patients could continue ustekinumab therapy at 1 year or final visit.

CONCLUSIONS

According to low-quality evidence mainly from cohort studies and case series, approximately one half of patients with CD and UC/IBD-U achieved remission at 1 year. Ustekinumab has a reasonable safety profile and dose optimization is frequently required. Data on the long-term benefit and high-quality evidence are still needed.

Can we change the natural course of inflammatory bowel disease?

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are lifelong diseases characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract leading to its progressive and irreversible destruction. Whether early initiation of IBD-specific therapy impacts the long-term course of the disease remains unclear and has to be further explored in prospective disease-modification trials. Historically, surgery and hospitalization rates have been the surrogate markers to measure disease progression in IBD, providing an overview of the effectiveness of medical therapies. However, neither surgery nor hospitalization necessarily reflects a fail in therapeutic medical management, and many confounding factors make them biased outcomes. The Selecting Endpoints for Disease-Modification Trials consensus has defined the disease-modification endpoints required for these trials, including the impact of the disease on patient's life (health-related quality of life, disability, and fecal incontinence), the mid-term disease complications (bowel damage in CD, IBD-related surgery and hospitalizations, disease extension in UC, extra-intestinal manifestations, permanent stoma, short bowel syndrome), and the development of dysplasia/cancer and mortality in the long term. Most available data in the literature regarding the impact of current therapies on disease progression focused on anti-tumor necrosis factor agents and are based on retrospective or post-hoc studies. Thus, prospective disease-modification trials are pressingly required to explore the effectiveness of early intensified treatment in patients with severe disease or at risk for disease progression.