University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
Michael Kappelman, MD1, Sruthi Adimadhyam, PhD2, Laura Hou, MS, MPH3, Andrew L. Simon, ScM4, Angela Dobes, MPH5, Lauren E. Parlett, BS, PhD6, Kevin Haynes, PharmD, MSc(Epi)7, Mano Selvan, 8, Qianli Ma, MS9, Vinit Nair, MS, RPH10, Jessica L. Burris, MD11, Jennifer E. Dorand, PhD12, Millie Long, MD, MPH, FACG13 1University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC; 2Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA; 3Harvard PIlgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA; 4Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA; 5Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, New York, NY; 6HealthCore, Inc., Wilmington, DE; 7Janssen Research & Development, Wayne, PA; 8Humana Healthcare Research, Sugar Land, TX; 9Humana Inc., Louisville, KY; 10Sunrise, FL; 11Yale University School of Medicine, West Haven, CT; 12Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, Somerset, NJ; 13UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Introduction: Many patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) lose response or become intolerant to anti-TNF therapy. Newer classes of biologics have demonstrated efficacy in anti-TNF experienced patients, but real-world comparative effectiveness studies are limited and have yielded conflicting results. We sought to compare the effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab to vedolizumab in a large, geographically diverse United States (U.S.) population of adult patients with CD previously treated with TNF inhibitors.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using longitudinal claims data from a large national U.S. insurance company (Anthem, Inc.). We identified CD patients initiating vedolizumab or ustekinumab with evidence of anti-TNF treatment in the prior 6 months. Our primary outcome was treatment persistence > 52 weeks. Select secondary outcomes included: 1) all-cause hospitalization; 2) hospitalization for CD with surgery; 3) hospitalization for CD without surgery, and 4) hospitalization for infection. Propensity score fine stratification was used to control for confounding by demographic and clinical characteristics and prior treatments at baseline.
Results: We identified 885 new users of ustekinumab and 490 new users of vedolizumab who met criteria for our primary analysis. We observed no difference in treatment persistence [adjusted RR 1.09 (95% CI 0.95 -1.25)]; however, ustekinumab was associated with lower all-cause hospitalization (adjusted HR 0.73 [0.59-0.91]) and non-surgical CD hospitalizations (adjusted HR 0.58 [0.40-0.83]) (Table 1). Ustekinumab initiators were also less likely to be hospitalized for infection (adjusted HR 0.56 [ 0.34-0.92]).
Discussion: This real-world comparative effectiveness study of anti-TNF experienced CD patients initiating vedolizumab or ustekinumab showed similar treatment persistence rates beyond 52 weeks, although secondary outcomes such as all-cause hospitalization, non-surgical CD hospitalizations, and hospitalizations for infection favored ustekinumab initiation. We therefore advocate for individualized decision making in this medically refractory population, considering patient preference, prior Anti-TNF experience and other factors such as cost and route of administration.
Figure: Table 1: Incidence and Effect Estimates for Primary and Secondary Endpoints in New Users of Ustekinumab vs Vedolizumab
Disclosures:
Michael Kappelman: Abbvie – Consultant. Eli Lilly – Consultant. Janssen – Consultant, Stock-publicly held company(excluding mutual/index funds). Pfizer – Consultant. Takeda – Consultant.
Sruthi Adimadhyam indicated no relevant financial relationships.
Laura Hou indicated no relevant financial relationships.
Andrew Simon indicated no relevant financial relationships.
Angela Dobes indicated no relevant financial relationships.
Lauren Parlett: Sanofi – Grant/Research Support.
Kevin Haynes: Anthem, Inc. – Employee, Stock Options, Stock-publicly held company(excluding mutual/index funds). Janssen Research & Development – Employee.
Mano Selvan indicated no relevant financial relationships.
Qianli Ma indicated no relevant financial relationships.
Vinit Nair indicated no relevant financial relationships.
Jessica Burris indicated no relevant financial relationships.
Jennifer Dorand: Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation – Advisory Committee/Board Member. East Orange VA Medical Center – Employee. Pfizer Inc. – Stock-publicly held company(excluding mutual/index funds). Princeton ProCure Management LLC – Employee. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals – Stock-publicly held company(excluding mutual/index funds).
Michael Kappelman, MD1, Sruthi Adimadhyam, PhD2, Laura Hou, MS, MPH3, Andrew L. Simon, ScM4, Angela Dobes, MPH5, Lauren E. Parlett, BS, PhD6, Kevin Haynes, PharmD, MSc(Epi)7, Mano Selvan, 8, Qianli Ma, MS9, Vinit Nair, MS, RPH10, Jessica L. Burris, MD11, Jennifer E. Dorand, PhD12, Millie Long, MD, MPH, FACG13. D0342 - Real World Evidence Comparing Vedolizumab and Ustekinumab in Anti-TNF Experienced Patients With Crohn’s Disease, ACG 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Charlotte, NC: American College of Gastroenterology.