Gastroenterology
Fraser Cummings, MBChB, DPhil, led one of the first clinical teams to switch patients receiving the reference infliximab (Remicade) to CT-P13 (Remsima) in UK clinical practice. During the SMi 9th annual conference on Biosimilars and Biobetters, held September 26-27 in London, United Kingdom, Cummings explained his experience with this switch in his gastroenterology clinic, and looked ahead to the arrival of adalimumab biosimilars in the National Health Service (NHS).
Up to 60% of Crohn disease patients taking an anti—tumor necrosis factor (TNF) monoclonal antibody medication eventually stop responding to treatment, but the optimal management of these patients has not been clearly defined.
“The common initiation in North America of infliximab as monotherapy is concerning, given the now substantial body of evidence…documenting the importance of concomitant [immunomodulators] in reducing the likelihood of secondary loss of responsiveness related to anti-infliximab antibodies," write the researchers.
Catch up on the week’s top rheumatology, gastroenterology, clinical practice, regulatory, policy, and business news from the world of biosimilars.
Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic, immune-mediated, progressive biliary disease that is closely associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). PSC has no cure, and up to 40% of cases eventually require patients to receive liver transplants. Given the efficacy of biologics in treating IBD, the potential to treat PSC with these same drugs is a matter of interest for healthcare providers.
Intestinal Behçet disease (BD), which is an immune-mediated, chronic, inflammatory intestinal disease, can be difficult to treat, in part because the pathogenesis of intestinal BD is unclear. However, as data for using anti–tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drugs have been accumulating in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which has a similar clinical presentation, the potential to treat BD with these agents is under investigation.
A new study, published in Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, sought to test antigenic comparability between the reference infliximab and the biosimilar.
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Researchers from Spain, where biosimilar use is encouraged as a way to save on costs and expand access to biologic therapies, recently reported on a multicenter prospective observational study in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who switched from reference infliximab to a biosimilar, CT-P13 (Inflectra, Remsima).
“I see no reason as a healthcare provider to intentionally go back and forth needlessly, but I see no concerns that, if I do that, bad things would happen,” said Jason Schairer, MD.
Crohn disease (CD) can involve physical, psychological, and social impairments that negatively impact patients’ quality of life, and high levels of anxiety and depression have been observed in patients with CD.
