Introduction
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)
‐B*5701 screening identifies patients at increased risk for abacavir (
ABC
) hypersensitivity reaction (
HSR
). Screening was adopted in GlaxoSmithKline and ViiV Healthcare clinical trials in 2007 and human immunodeficiency virus treatment guidelines in 2008. Company meta‐analyses of trials pre–
HLA
‐B*5701 screening reported
HSR
rates of 4–8%. We analyzed the effectiveness of
HLA
‐B*5701 screening on reducing
HSR
rates using clinical trial, Observational Pharmaco‐Epidemiology Research & Analysis (
OPERA
) cohort, and spontaneous reporting data.
Methods
A meta‐analysis examined 12 trials in 3063
HLA
‐B*5701–negative patients receiving an
ABC
‐containing regimen from April 9, 2007, to September 22, 2015. Potential cases were identified using prespecified Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (Med
DRA
) preferred terms (
drug hypersensitivity, hypersensitivity, anaphylactic reaction, anaphylaxis
) and adjudicated against a Company
ABC HSR
case definition. Investigator‐diagnosed cases were identified and rates were calculated. In the
OPERA
cohort, 9619 patients initiating their first
ABC
‐containing regimen from January 1, 1999, to January 1, 2016, were identified. Patients were observed from regimen start until the earliest‐following censoring event:
ABC
discontinuation, loss to follow‐up, death, or study end (July 31, 2016).
OPERA
physicians evaluated events against
OPERA
definitions for definite/probable cases of
ABC HSR
; rates were calculated pre‐ and post‐2008. The Company case definition was used to identify spontaneously reported cases for four marketed
ABC
‐containing products; reporting rates were calculated using estimated exposure from sales data, through December 31, 2016.
Results
Suspected
ABC HSR
rates were 1.3% or less in the meta‐analysis. In the
OPERA
cohort, the rate was 0.4% among patients initiating
ABC
post‐2008 versus 1.3% pre‐2008 (p<0.0001). Spontaneous reporting rates were low post‐2008 (54 to 22 cases per 100,000 patient‐years exposure [
PYE
]) versus pre‐2008 (618 to 55 cases per 100,000
PYE
).
Conclusions
Clinically suspected
ABC HSR
rates were 1.3% or less in
HLA
‐B*5701–negative patients. Recognizing their limitations, data from t...