Effectiveness and Safety of Golimumab in the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis: 52-Week Results from Post-Marketing Surveillance in Japan

INTRODUCTION: Real-world evidence for the effectiveness and safety of golimumab (GLM) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the 52-week effectiveness and safety of GLM treatment for UC. METHODS: This prospective, multicentre, post-marketing surveillance study is conducted in 393 patients with UC in Japan (UMIN000027542). Clinical remission (partial Mayo score ≤2), adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and their predictors, and treatment persistence were analysed. RESULTS: The safety analysis sets comprised 391 patients. Patients in clinical remission at baseline were excluded, and 336 were used for effectiveness analysis. Clinical remission was 47.9%, 48.5%, 44.6%, and 39.6% at weeks 6, 22, 36, and 52, respectively, in the intent-to-treat analysis. In biologic-naive patients, clinical remission was slightly higher than that in biologic-experienced patients. At week 52, patients who concomitantly used corticosteroids at baseline showed numerically lower clinical remission rates than non-users of corticosteroids (34.9% vs. 44.5%). Multivariate analysis showed that smoking history (p = 0.040, odds ratio [OR] = 1.911, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.030–3.546) was an independent factor associated with clinical remission at week 52. ADRs occurred in 71 patients (18.2%) and included 9 cases of rash. Serious ADRs occurred in 40 patients (10.2%), including 8 cases of UC exacerbation. Additionally, the presence of comorbidities was associated with ADR incidence (p = 0.010, OR = 2.000, 95% CI: 1.183–3.380). CONCLUSION: The real-world effectiveness of GLM treatment was confirmed in biologic-naive and experienced populations. The safety profile of GLM treatment was consistent with previous findings.