PERFUSE: a French non-interventional study of patients with inflammatory bowel disease receiving infliximab biosimilar SB2: a 12-month analysis

BACKGROUND: Flixabi(TM) (SB2) is a biosimilar of the reference infliximab (IFX), Remicade(®). Published evidence on long-term, real-world use of SB2 in patients either IFX naive or transitioned from prior IFX is scarce. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated persistence, effectiveness, and safety of SB2 over 12 months in adults with IBD [Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)], participating in PERFUSE. DESIGN: PERFUSE is a long-term, non-interventional, multicenter study of patients receiving SB2 at specialist sites across France. METHODS: SB2 treatment was initiated in September 2017, either as first IFX treatment (IFX naive), after transition from treatment with reference IFX (IFX ref) or another IFX biosimilar (IFX bs), or both IFX ref and IFX bs (IFX multiswitch). Outcomes up to Month 12 (±2) include persistence on SB2 (primary outcome measure), SB2 dose, disease status, immunogenicity, and safety. RESULTS: This final 12-month analysis of patients with IBD includes 569 with CD and 168 with UC. Persistence [95% confidence interval (CI)] at Month 12 was CD: 89% (77.2; 94.9), UC: 78.5% (58.2; 89.8) for IFX naive; CD: 94% (91.0; 96.1), UC: 92.8% (84.8; 96.7) for IFX ref; CD: 91.6% (86.0; 95.0), UC: 94.2% (83.1; 98.1) for IFX bs; and CD 100% (100; 100), UC 100% (100; 100) for IFX multiswitch. In the CD and UC cohorts, disease activity among IFX naive patients declined from baseline to Month 12; with any prior IFX, the proportions of patients in remission at baseline, Month 6, and Month 12 remained unchanged in the UC cohort, and were comparable or higher in the CD cohort. No immunogenicity or safety signals were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with IBD can be initiated on SB2 or transitioned from IFX ref and/or IFX bs to SB2, with no loss of disease control or safety concerns, with >75% of naive and >90% of transitioned patients continuing on SB2 treatment at 12 months.