Two recent studies highlight more rapid onset of action for vedolizumab and tofacitinib than previous reports.
In the first study (BG Feagan et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2019; 17: 130-8), the authors performed a post-hoc analysis of data from phase 3, randomized controlled trials of vedolizumab vs placebo in adult patients (UC, N=374; CD, N=784).
Key findings:
- In patients with UC, 19.1% overall and 22.3% of anti-TNF naive achieved a composite score of rectal bleeding of 0 and stool frequency of ≤1 at week 2 compared to 10% and 6.6% respectively in the placebo group. By 6 weeks, this response rate was 40.8% among anti-TNF naive patients.
- In patients with CD, 15.0% of anti-TNF naive patients achieved a composite score of abdominal pain ≤1 and loose stool frequency ≤3 at week 2 compared to 7.9% of placebo; at 4 weeks, the vedolizumab group, the rate was 23.8% compared to 10.3% with placebo.
My take: This study shows that a substantial portion of patients respond fairly quickly to vedolizumab, especially among patients who are naive to anti-TNF therapy. This is in contrast to the impression that vedolizumab is slow-acting and needs closer to 14 weeks to see clinical effects.
Related blog posts:
- Getting the Most Out of Vedolizumab
- Vedolizumab Drug Levels –Are They Helpful?
- Therapeutic drug monitoring for vedolizumab
- A Bunch of Data on Vedolizumab
Jardines de Cecilio Rodríguez; Retiro Park, Madrid
