Multiple Sclerosis immunotherapies and COVID-19 mortality: an analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System

BACKGROUND: Evidence on mortality risks associated with MS-immunotherapies during the SARS-CoV2 pandemic derived thus far mainly from single country experiences. OBJECTIVE: In this analysis, we aim to determine the frequency of COVID-19 associated fatality reports of patients receiving an MS-immunotherapy as reported to the international Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from February 2020 to March 2021. METHODS: In all, 1071 cases for this cross-sectional analysis were retrieved from FAERS and a multivariable logistic regression was performed. We adjusted for sex, age, region, month of report to FDA, immunotherapy-class and additionally for healthcare-system and pandemic-related metrics. RESULT: Anti-CD20 therapies (60%) followed by sphingosine-1 phosphate modulators (12%) and dimethylfumarat (10%) were reported most frequently. In 50% of the cases, MS-phenotype is not reported, relapsing MS in 35% and progressive MS in 15%. Besides older age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.1; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07–1.13; p < 0.01), anti-CD20 therapies were significantly associated with a higher risk of death (OR: 4.1; 95% CI: 1.17–14.46; p = 0.03), whereas female sex was associated with a reduced mortality risk (OR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.22–0.72; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Using international open access data and a multidisciplinary approach for risk prediction, we identified an increased mortality risk associated with anti-CD20 therapies, which is in line with national and multi-national cohort studies.