A plea for equitable global access to COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccination and therapy: The NeuroCOVID-19 Task Force of the European Academy of Neurology

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a multi-organ disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to challenge health and care systems around the globe. The pandemic has disrupted acute neurology services and routine patient care and has impacted the clinical course in patients with chronic neurological disease. COVID-19 appears to have exposed inequalities of societies and healthcare systems and had a disproportionate impact on already vulnerable communities. The next challenge will be to set up initiatives to stop disparities in all aspects related to COVID-19. From the medical perspective, there is a need to consider inequalities in prevention, treatment and long-term consequences. Some of the issues of direct relevance to neurologists are summarised. With this appraisal, the European Academy of Neurology NeuroCOVID-19 Task Force intends to raise awareness of the potential impact of COVID-19 on inequalities in healthcare and calls for action to prevent disparity at individual, national and supranational levels.

Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in Aquaporin-4 IgG-Positive NMOSD

OBJECTIVE

During PREVENT (NCT01892345), eculizumab significantly reduced relapse risk versus placebo in patients with aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (AQP4-IgG+ NMOSD). We report an interim analysis of PREVENT's ongoing open-label extension (OLE; NCT02003144) evaluating eculizumab's long-term safety and efficacy.

METHODS

Patients who completed PREVENT could enroll in the OLE to receive eculizumab (maintenance dose = 1,200 mg/2 weeks, after a blinded induction phase). Safety and efficacy data from PREVENT and its OLE (interim data cut, July 31, 2019) were combined for this analysis.

RESULTS

Across PREVENT and the OLE, 137 patients received eculizumab and were monitored for a median (range) of 133.3 weeks (5.1-276.9 weeks), for a combined total of 362.3 patient-years (PY). Treatment-related adverse event (AE) and serious adverse event (SAE) rates were 183.5 in 100 PY and 8.6 in 100 PY, respectively. Serious infection rates were 10.2 in 100 PY in eculizumab-treated patients versus 15.1 in 100 PY in the PREVENT placebo group. No patient developed a meningococcal infection. At 192 weeks (3.7 years), 94.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 88.6-97.3) of patients remained adjudicated relapse-free. The adjudicated annualized relapse rate was 0.025 (95% CI = 0.013-0.048) in all eculizumab-treated patients versus 0.350 (95% CI = 0.199-0.616) in the PREVENT placebo group. During the OLE, 37% of patients (44 of 119 patients) stopped or decreased background immunosuppressive therapy use.

INTERPRETATION

This analysis demonstrates that eculizumab's long-term safety profile in NMOSD is consistent with its established profile across other indications. This analysis also demonstrated the sustained ability of long-term eculizumab treatment to reduce relapse risk in patients with AQP4-IgG+ NMOSD. ANN NEUROL 2021;89:1088-1098.