Efficacy of vedolizumab for induction of clinical response and remission in patients with moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease who failed at least two TNF antagonists

Background: Vedolizumab is a recently available monoclonal antibody targeting α4β7 integrin for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Objective: The objective of this article is to evaluate the efficacy of vedolizumab induction therapy in anti-TNF-refractory/intolerant UC and CD patients in real life. Methods: A cohort of 149 moderately to severely active UC and CD patients who failed or showed intolerance to at least two TNF antagonists participated in a medical need program and received vedolizumab in 37 Belgian centers (April–September 2015). Rates of clinical response and remission were retrospectively evaluated at Week 10 for UC and Week 14 for CD using the physician’s global assessment (PGA), Mayo score and Harvey Bradshaw index (HBI) or Crohn's disease activity score (CDAI) scores. Results: Eighty-four patients (29 UC, 55 CD) had sufficient data for analysis. For UC patients, clinical response was observed in 76% based on PGA and 59% based on the Mayo score. The corresponding percentages for CD patients were 80% for PGA and 65% for HBI/CDAI. Clinical remission rates were 10% and 40% for UC and CD, respectively. Steroid-free remission was observed in respectively 10% and 35%. Globally, corticosteroids were stopped in 14 out of 48 patients (29%). No new safety signals were reported. Conclusion: Up to 70% TNF-refractory/intolerant UC and CD patients achieved a clinical response after 10 to 14 weeks of vedolizumab treatment in this real-life cohort.SCOPUS: ar.j