PERFUSE: Non-Interventional Cohort Study of Patients Receiving Infliximab Biosimilar SB2: Results in Pediatric Patients

Abstract

Objectives: PERFUSE is a non-interventional study of 1233 patients [inflammatory rheumatic disease, n = 496; inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), n = 737] receiving infliximab (IFX) biosimilar SB2 therapy. This analysis describes response to treatment and persistence on SB2 for up to 12 months in pediatric IBD patients (n = 126). Methods: Pediatric IBD patients with Crohn disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC), either naïve or switched from originator IFX, who started SB2 in routine practice after September 2017 were eligible. Data were captured for 12 months following SB2 initiation. Disease activity was measured using C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and the Harvey-Bradshaw Index or Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index for CD and UC patients, respectively. Body mass index and height z scores were used to assess patient growth between initiation (M0) and month 12 (M12). Results: One hundred twenty-six pediatric IBD patients were included (102 CD patients, 51 naïve and 51 switched; 24 UC patients, 9 naïve and 15 switched). Naive patients’ disease scores decreased between M0 and M12. CRP measurements also decreased in naïve CD patients. Switched patients’ disease scores and CRP levels remained stable between M0 and M12. Height z scores improved significantly over the course of the treatment for all groups except for naïve UC patients. Conclusions: SB2 provides effective disease control for naïve and switched pediatric patients. Clinical remission rates improved in naïve patients and no loss of control was observed in switched patients after 1 year. Growth failure is not observed in IBD patients under SB2 treatment.

Similar Growth Outcomes in Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Initiated on Infliximab Originator or Biosimilar

“…There is a paucity of literature describing growth outcomes in children initiating biosimilars, though van Hoeve et al (26) investigated growth outcomes in patients that were switched from the infliximab originator to an infliximab biosimilar, and the results showed a significant improvement in linear growth over time post‐switch. Similarly, Martinez‐Vinson et al (27) recently published that children with IBD who were initiated or switched to a IV anti‐TNF biosimilar displayed efficacious disease management and the patients with CD whom were anti‐TNF naïve and started on the biosimilar had a significant increase in their height over 12 months. Use of anti‐TNF therapy, in addition to avoiding the use of corticosteroids, have been shown to be essential in optimizing growth in pediatric patients with IBD (6).…”