The efficacy of ustekinumab, an antagonist of the p40 subunit of interleukin-12 and interleukin-23, as induction and maintenance therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis is unknown.
We evaluated ...ustekinumab as 8-week induction therapy and 44-week maintenance therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis. A total of 961 patients were randomly assigned to receive an intravenous induction dose of ustekinumab (either 130 mg 320 patients or a weight-range-based dose that approximated 6 mg per kilogram of body weight 322) or placebo (319). Patients who had a response to induction therapy 8 weeks after administration of intravenous ustekinumab were randomly assigned again to receive subcutaneous maintenance injections of 90 mg of ustekinumab (either every 12 weeks 172 patients or every 8 weeks 176) or placebo (175). The primary end point in the induction trial (week 8) and the maintenance trial (week 44) was clinical remission (defined as a total score of ≤2 on the Mayo scale range, 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating more severe disease and no subscore >1 range, 0 to 3 on any of the four Mayo scale components).
The percentage of patients who had clinical remission at week 8 among patients who received intravenous ustekinumab at a dose of 130 mg (15.6%) or 6 mg per kilogram (15.5%) was significantly higher than that among patients who received placebo (5.3%) (P<0.001 for both comparisons). Among patients who had a response to induction therapy with ustekinumab and underwent a second randomization, the percentage of patients who had clinical remission at week 44 was significantly higher among patients assigned to 90 mg of subcutaneous ustekinumab every 12 weeks (38.4%) or every 8 weeks (43.8%) than among those assigned to placebo (24.0%) (P = 0.002 and P<0.001, respectively). The incidence of serious adverse events with ustekinumab was similar to that with placebo. Through 52 weeks of exposure, there were two deaths (one each from acute respiratory distress syndrome and hemorrhage from esophageal varices) and seven cases of cancer (one each of prostate, colon, renal papillary, and rectal cancer and three nonmelanoma skin cancers) among 825 patients who received ustekinumab and no deaths and one case of cancer (testicular cancer) among 319 patients who received placebo.
Ustekinumab was more effective than placebo for inducing and maintaining remission in patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis. (Funded by Janssen Research and Development; UNIFI ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02407236.).
The IM-UNITI study and long-term extension (LTE) evaluated the long-term efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of subcutaneous ustekinumab maintenance therapy in patients with Crohn’s disease. Here, ...we report the final results of IM-UNITI LTE through 5 years.
Patients completing safety and efficacy evaluations at week 44 of the maintenance study were eligible to participate in the LTE and continue the treatment they were receiving. Unblinding occurred after completion of maintenance study analyses (August 2015), and patients receiving placebo were discontinued from the study after unblinding. No dose adjustment occurred in the LTE. Efficacy assessments were conducted every 12 weeks until unblinding and at dosing visits thereafter through week 252. Serum ustekinumab concentrations and antidrug antibodies were evaluated through weeks 252 and 272, respectively.
Using an intent-to-treat analysis of all patients randomized to ustekinumab at maintenance baseline, 34.4% of patients in the every-8-weeks group and 28.7% in the every-12-weeks group were in clinical remission at week 252. Corresponding remission rates among patients who entered the LTE were 54.9% and 45.2%. Overall, adverse event rates (per 100 patient-years) from maintenance week 0 through the final visit generally were similar in the placebo and combined ustekinumab groups for all adverse events (440.3 vs 327.6), serious adverse events (19.3 vs 17.5), infections (99.8 vs 93.8), and serious infections (3.9 vs 3.4). Serum ustekinumab concentrations were maintained throughout the LTE. Antidrug antibodies occurred in 5.8% of patients who received ustekinumab during induction and maintenance and continued in the LTE.
Patients receiving subcutaneous ustekinumab maintained clinical remission through 5 years. No new safety signals were observed. ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01369355.
Abstract
Background and Aims
Following induction/maintenance treatment in the UNITI/IM-UNITI studies of ustekinumab for Crohn’s disease, patients entered a long-term extension for up to 5 years from ...induction. Efficacy through 152 and safety through 156 weeks are reported.
Methods
At IM-UNITI Week 44, 567 ustekinumab-treated patients entered the long-term extension and continued to receive blinded subcutaneous ustekinumab on their assigned dose interval, without any subsequent dose adjustment. Placebo-treated patients discontinued after study unblinding after IM-UNITI Week 44 analyses. Efficacy data in the long-term extension LTE were collected every 12 weeks q12w before unblinding and then at q12w/q8w dosing visits.
Results
Through Week 156, 29.6% of ustekinumab-treated patients discontinued. In an intent-to-treat analysis of randomised patients from IM-UNITI Weeks 0–152, 38.0% of ustekinumab induction responders receiving the drug q12w and 43.0% q8w were in remission at Week 152. Among patients entering the long-term extension in their original randomised groups, 61.9% of q12w and 69.5% of q8w patients were in remission at Week 152. Across all ustekinumab-treated patients randomised and non-randomised entering the long-term extension, remission rates at Week 152 were 56.3% and 55.1% for q12w and q8w, respectively. Safety events per 100 patient-years were similar among all ustekinumab-treated patients entering the long-term extension and placebo overall adverse events 389.70 vs 444.17; serious adverse events, 18.97 vs 19.54; serious infections, 4.21 vs 3.97. Rates of antibodies to ustekinumab through Week 156 remained low, 4.6% in all randomised ustekinumab-treated patients; lowest among patients in the original randomised q8w group 2/82, 2.4%.
Conclusions
Continued treatment with subcutaneous ustekinumab maintained clinical response and remission through 3 years in a majority of patients who responded to induction therapy and was well-tolerated. ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01369355.
Background & Aims Little is known about the efficacy of golimumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) −α, for treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). We evaluated ...subcutaneous golimumab induction therapy in TNF−α antagonist-naïve patients with moderate-to-severe UC despite conventional treatment. Methods We integrated double-blind phase 2 dose-finding and phase 3 dose-confirmation trials in a study of 1064 adults with UC (Mayo score: 6−12; endoscopic subscore ≥2; 774 patients in phase 3). Patients were randomly assigned to groups given golimumab doses of 100 mg and then 50 mg (phase 2 only), 200 mg and then 100 mg, or 400 mg and then 200 mg, 2 weeks apart. The phase 3 primary end point was week-6 clinical response. Secondary end points included week-6 clinical remission, mucosal healing, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) score change. Results In phase 2, median changes from baseline in the Mayo score were −1.0, −3.0, −2.0, and −3.0, in the groups given placebo, 100 mg/50 mg, 200/100 mg, and 400/200 mg golimumab, respectively. In phase 3, rates of clinical response at week 6 were 51.0% and 54.9% among patients given 200 mg/100 mg and 400 mg/200 mg golimumab, respectively, vs 30.3% among those given placebo (both, P ≤ .0001). Rates of clinical remission and mucosal healing and mean changes in IBDQ scores were significantly greater in both golimumab groups vs the placebo group ( P ≤ .0014, all comparisons). Rates of serious adverse events were 6.1% and 3.0%, and rates of serious infection were 1.8% and 0.5%, in the placebo and golimumab groups, respectively. One patient in the 400 mg/200 mg group died as a result of surgical complications of an ischiorectal abscess. Conclusions Treatment with subcutaneous golimumab induces clinical response, remission, and mucosal healing, and increases quality of life in larger percentages of patients with active UC than placebo. ClinicalTrials.gov Number: NCT00487539.
Background & Aims Subcutaneous golimumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody to tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), was evaluated as maintenance therapy in TNFα antagonist-naive adults with ...moderate-to-severe active ulcerative colitis, despite conventional therapy, who responded to golimumab induction therapy. Methods We performed a phase 3, double-blind trial of patients who completed golimumab induction trials (Program of Ulcerative Colitis Research Studies Utilizing an Investigational Treatment, eg, PURSUIT). Patients who responded to induction therapy with golimumab (n = 464) were assigned randomly to groups given placebo or injections of 50 or 100 mg golimumab every 4 weeks through week 52. Patients who responded to placebo in the induction study continued to receive placebo. Nonresponders in the induction study received 100 mg golimumab. The primary end point was clinical response maintained through week 54; secondary end points included clinical remission and mucosal healing at both weeks 30 and 54. Results Clinical response was maintained through week 54 in 47.0% of patients receiving 50 mg golimumab, 49.7% of patients receiving 100 mg golimumab, and 31.2% of patients receiving placebo ( P = .010 and P < .001, respectively). At weeks 30 and 54, a higher percentage of patients who received 100 mg golimumab were in clinical remission and had mucosal healing (27.8% and 42.4%) than patients given placebo (15.6% and 26.6%; P = .004 and P = .002, respectively) or 50 mg golimumab (23.2% and 41.7%, respectively). Percentages of serious adverse events were 7.7%, 8.4%, and 14.3% among patients given placebo, 50 mg, or 100 mg golimumab, respectively; percentages of serious infections were 1.9%, 3.2%, and 3.2%, respectively. Among all patients given golimumab in the study, 3 died (from sepsis, tuberculosis, and cardiac failure, all in patients who received 100 mg golimumab) and 4 developed active tuberculosis. Conclusions Golimumab (50 mg or 100 mg) maintained clinical response through week 54 in patients who responded to induction therapy with golimumab and had moderate-to-severe active ulcerative colitis; patients who received 100 mg golimumab had clinical remission and mucosal healing at weeks 30 and 54. Safety was consistent with that reported for other TNFα antagonists and golimumab in other approved indications. ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT00488631.
Summary
Background
The ongoing UNIFI long‐term extension evaluates subcutaneous ustekinumab for moderate‐to‐severe ulcerative colitis (UC) from weeks 44 through 220.
Aims
To assess efficacy (through ...week 92) and safety (through week 96) during the long‐term extension
Methods
Overall, 399 responders to intravenous ustekinumab induction and who were randomised to maintenance therapy were treated in the long‐term extension (115 received subcutaneous placebo, 141 received ustekinumab 90 mg every 12 weeks q12w, and 143 received ustekinumab 90 mg q8w). Placebo treatment was discontinued at unblinding after week 44. Partial Mayo scores were collected every 12 weeks and at each dosing visit after unblinding. Safety was evaluated throughout.
Results
Among all patients randomised in maintenance, symptomatic remission rates (stool frequency = 0/1; rectal bleeding = 0) at week 92 were, 64.5% and 67.6% in the ustekinumab q12w and q8w groups, respectively. Among randomised patients treated in the long‐term extension, 78.7% and 83.2% of patients receiving q12w and q8w, respectively, attained symptomatic remission at week 92; >95% of patients in symptomatic remission at week 92 were corticosteroid‐free. Both ustekinumab groups maintained efficacy through week 92. From weeks 44 to 96, adverse events (AEs) per hundred patient‐years (PY) of follow‐up for combined ustekinumab vs placebo were: 255.68 vs 267.93; serious AEs, 9.34 vs 12.69; malignancies (including non‐melanoma skin cancers), 0.93 vs 1.49; and serious infections, 2.33 vs 2.99. One patient with multiple comorbidities who received one ustekinumab dose after dose adjusting from placebo experienced a fatal cardiac arrest.
Conclusions
The efficacy of ustekinumab in patients with UC was sustained through 92 weeks. No new safety signals were observed (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02407236).
Ustekinumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds with high affinity to the p40 subunit of human interleukin 12 (IL12 and IL23) that has been approved for treatment of patients with moderate to severe ...Crohn’s disease (CD). However, there are few data on its pharmacokinetic properties or the relationship between drug exposure levels and patient response. We collected data from 2 Phase 3 induction studies and 1 maintenance study to determine ustekinumab’s pharmacokinetic features, relationship between exposure and response, and optimal serum concentrations for efficacy.
We collected data on serum concentrations of ustekinumab and efficacy from induction studies of patients with moderate to severe CD given ustekinumab for 8 weeks following a single intravenous dose (either 130 mg or approximately 6 mg/kg). We collected the same data from a maintenance study of patients with a response to ustekinumab in the induction study who then received subcutaneous injections (90 mg) every 8 or 12 weeks for 44 weeks. At week 44 of the maintenance study (52 weeks after treatment began), patients were evaluated for the primary endpoint of clinical remission (defined as a CD activity index score below 150 points), endoscopic markers of efficacy, and serum level of C-reactive protein. Ustekinumab concentration data were categorized into quartiles and relationships between exposure and response were assessed. Optimal concentration cutoff values were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.
Serum concentrations of ustekinumab over time were proportional to dose and did not differ significantly between the induction studies. In the maintenance study, ustekinumab concentration reached the steady state by the second maintenance dose; the median trough concentration was approximately threefold higher in patients given ustekinumab at 8-week intervals compared with 12-week intervals. Ustekinumab serum concentrations associated with rates of clinical remission and endoscopic efficacy endpoints, correlated inversely with level of C-reactive protein, and did not associate with use of immunomodulators. Trough concentrations of ustekinumab of 0.8 (or even up to 1.4 μg/mL) or greater were associated with maintenance of clinical remission in a higher proportion of patients than patients with lower trough concentrations.
In an analysis of data from Phase 3 studies of patients with moderate to severe CD, we found serum concentrations of ustekinumab to be proportional to dose and associate with treatment efficacy. Concentrations of ustekinumab did not seem to be affected by cotreatment with immunomodulators. Clinicaltrials.gov no. NCT01369329 (UNITI 1), NCT01369342 (UNITI 2), and NCT01369355 (IM-UNITI).
Guselkumab, a selective p19 interleukin-23 antagonist, is approved for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of guselkumab in ...patients with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease with inadequate response or intolerance to conventional or biologic therapy.
GALAXI-1, a phase 2, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, randomized patients 1:1:1:1:1 to intravenous guselkumab 200 mg, 600 mg, or 1200 mg at weeks 0, 4, and 8; intravenous ustekinumab approximately 6 mg/kg at week 0 and 90 mg subcutaneously at week 8; or placebo. Change from baseline in Crohn’s Disease Activity Index score (primary end point), clinical remission, clinical response, Patient Reported Outcomes-2 remission, clinical-biomarker response, endoscopic response (major secondary end points), and safety in guselkumab-treated patients vs placebo were evaluated through week 12. Ustekinumab was a reference arm.
Of 309 patients evaluated, approximately 50% had disease refractory to prior biologic therapy. At week 12, significantly greater reductions in Crohn’s Disease Activity Index from baseline (least squares means: 200 mg: –160.4, 600 mg: –138.9, and 1200 mg: –144.9 vs placebo: –36.2; all, P < .05) and significantly greater proportions of patients achieved clinical remission in each guselkumab group vs placebo (Crohn’s Disease Activity Index <150; 57.4%, 55.6%, and 45.9% vs 16.4%; all, P < .05). Greater proportions of patients receiving guselkumab achieved clinical response, Patient Reported Outcomes-2 remission, clinical-biomarker response, and endoscopic response at week 12 vs placebo. Efficacy of ustekinumab vs placebo was also demonstrated. Safety event rates were generally similar across treatment groups.
At week 12, all 3 dose regimens of guselkumab induced greater clinical and endoscopic improvements vs placebo, with a favorable safety profile. ClinicalTrials.gov, Number: NCT03466411.
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Guselkumab, an anti-interleukin-23, induced clinically meaningful improvements vs placebo at week 12 in patients with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease with an inadequate response to, or intolerance to, conventional/biologic therapies.
Among immunosuppressive- and biologic-naïve patients with moderately-to-severely active Crohn’s disease (CD), a higher proportion of those treated with the combination of infliximab and azathioprine ...achieved corticosteroid-free remission at week 26 (CSFR26) than those given infliximab monotherapy; patients given the combination therapy also had higher serum concentrations of infliximab. Enhanced benefit of combination therapy may occur through synergistic modes of action or the influence of azathioprine on infliximab pharmacokinetics.
We analyzed data from 206 patients from whom week 30 serum samples were available: 97 received infliximab monotherapy (5 mg/kg, n = 97) and 109 received combination therapy (2.5 mg/kg/day; n = 109). Proportions of patients achieving CSFR26 and mucosal healing (absence of ulcers) at week 26 were calculated for each quartile of serum concentrations of infliximab, and exposure–response relationships were compared.
Within quartiles of serum concentrations of infliximab, CSFR26 did not differ significantly between patients who received combination therapy vs monotherapy. However, among patients in the lowest quartile of serum concentration of infliximab, twice as many patients who received infliximab monotherapy achieved CSFR26 vs combination therapy. Anti-drug antibodies were detected only in the lowest quartile of serum concentrations of infliximab—in 35.9% of patients given monotherapy and 8.3% of patients given combination therapy.
Among patients with CD and similar serum concentrations of infliximab, combination therapy with azathioprine was not significantly more effective than infliximab monotherapy. Combination therapy with azathioprine appears to improve efficacy by increasing pharmacokinetic features of infliximab. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00094458.
Abstract Background Infliximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody against TNFα. The pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of infliximab have been studied in several adult patient populations, but a ...literature search identified no reported comparative population PK properties of this drug in pediatric patients. Objectives The current analysis applied population PK techniques to compare data on the PK properties of infliximab in pediatric and adult patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease (CD) from 2 Phase III studies. Methods This analysis used serum infliximab concentration data from 692 patients (112 children, 580 adults; age range, 6–76 years) from 2 Phase III clinical studies (REACH A Randomized, Multicenter, Open-Label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Anti-TNF-α Chimeric Monoclonal Antibody in Pediatric Subjects with Moderate-to-Severe Crohn's Disease and ACCENT I A Crohn's Disease Clinical Trial Evaluating Infliximab in a New, Long-term Treatment Regimen). PK models were developed separately for children, adults, and a combination of both. The combined population was used for establishing important covariates of infliximab PK properties in the combined CD population. Exploratory simulations using combined PK and covariate data were performed to expand the interpretation of the results in children. Results Based on the findings, in a typical child (who, based on the median values in REACH, weighs 42 kg, has a baseline serum albumin concentration SAC 3.8 mg/dL, and has not developed antibodies to infliximab ATIs) who is receiving infliximab and an immunomodulator, PK estimates (typical value SE) were as follows: clearance (CL), 5.43 (0.15) mL/kg/d; Vd in the central compartment (V1 ), 54.2 (1.15) mL/kg; Vd in the peripheral compartment (V2 ), 29.2 (2.03) mL/kg; and intercompartmental clearance (Q), 3.52 (0.71) mL/kg/d. Corresponding properties in a typical adult (weight, 68 kg; SAC, 4.1 mg/dL) were CL, 5.39 (0.13) mL/kg/d; V1 , 52.7 (0.49) mL/kg; V2 , 19.0 (1.53) mL/kg; and Q, 2.15 (0.39) mL/kg/d. V2 decreased as body weight increased, predicting a possible undercompensation for exposure with infliximab dosing per kg weight in lower-weight individuals. In pediatric and adult patients, CL was higher in those in whom ATIs developed or who had low baseline SAC. Concurrent immunomodulator use (purine antimetabolites or methotrexate) was associated with a 14% decrease in CL. In the pediatric and adult patients, observed trough serum infliximab concentrations, median infliximab t1/2 (in children, 13.2 days; and in adults, 12.4 days), and exploratory PK simulations predicted infliximab PK properties to be comparable between children and adults. Conclusions Infliximab PK properties appeared to be comparable between pediatric and adult patients with CD. Specifically, in this select population using nonlinear mixed effects modeling, infliximab CL increased as SAC decreased. CL also increased with ATI formation but decreased with immunomodulator coadministration. Although weight affects infliximab PK properties (total CL and total Vd increased with total body weight while per kg CL and Vd decrease with total body weight), age was not found to influence infliximab PK in the age range tested (6–76 years).
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