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Data on the efficacy and safety of the adalimumab biosimilar Exemptia are limited.
Patients with moderate-to-severe active steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) treated at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, India were offered cyclosporine A, biologicals or biosimilars, or surgery. A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients who were treated with the adalimumab biosimilar, Exemptia. These patients were administered an induction dosing schedule of 160 mg Exemptia at week 0, 80 mg at week 2, and then 40 mg every other week from week 4 to 8. The clinical response and remission were assessed at week 8 using Mayo score.
A total of 29 patients (62.1% male; mean age, 34.9 ± 9.7 years) with moderate-to-severe steroid-refractory active UC (mean disease duration, 6.3±5.1 years; pancolitis in 9 patients [31.1%]; left-sided colitis in 20 patients [68.9%]) were treated with the Exemptia induction dosing schedule. The mean Mayo score at presentation was 8.2±1.4. At week 8, clinical response was observed in 7 patients (24.1%), whereas clinical remission was observed only in 1 patient (3.5%). Among the non-responders (n=21), 4 patients required colectomy, 1 died, 1 was lost to follow-up, 10 were offered fecal microbiota transplant, 3 were administered infliximab, and 2 patients were administered cyclosporine and tacrolimus, respectively. Four patients (13.8%) developed extrapulmonary tuberculosis.
The adalimumab biosimilar Exemptia has limited efficacy for the attainment of clinical response and remission in moderate-to-severe steroid-refractory UC, with a significant risk of acquisition or reactivation of tuberculosis in developing countries such as India.
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Introduction of biological therapies have led to dramatic changes in the management of debilitating immune-mediated inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. However, the long term use of these agents may be very expensive, placing a significant burden on National Healthcare Systems. The development of first biosimilar to infliximab, CT-P13 (Remsima; Celltrion Inc., Incheon, Korea and Inflextra; Hospiral, Lake Forest, Illinois, USA) has become another way to decrease the medical care cost and increase patient treatment option, but, actual equivalence of efficacy and safety of CT-P13 was investigated in rheumatic diseases only. The extrapolation of outcome from rheumatic trials to IBD and the interchangeability of CT-P13 with infliximab have come to be a matter of concern. Two recent retrospective studies reported the similarity of CT-P13 in terms of efficacy and safety. Infliximab biosimilars may be promising new treatment options for IBD patients, however, well-designed, prospective randomized non-inferiority trials should be needed to confidently integrate infliximab biosimilars into IBD treatment.
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