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TOPLINE:

More than 90% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) accepted the switch from the adalimumab reference product to adalimumab biosimilars, with favourable survival and remission outcomes and a positive patient experience at 12 months. A poor opinion of generic drugs was associated with the refusal to switch.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a prospective observational study at a French hospital between July 2020 and September 2021 to evaluate the acceptance rate of switching from an adalimumab reference product to its biosimilars.
• They included 97 patients with IBD (median age, 34.8 years; 52.6% men) treated with an adalimumab reference product for more than 6 weeks (median duration, 5.4 years) who were offered to switch and choose one of five available adalimumab biosimilars.
• Participants received verbal information about the biosimilars, provided by the treating gastroenterologist and a trained nurse to guide the switch. Patients who accepted the switch received training on the injection device and were followed up for 12 months.
• The primary outcome was the switch acceptance after 1 year of follow-up and factors associated with non-acceptance.
• Secondary outcomes included patient perceptions, rates of switching back to the original drug, reasons for discontinuation, and clinical remission assessed at 6 and 12 months.

TAKEAWAY:

• Overall, 91.8% of patients accepted the switch to the adalimumab biosimilars. A negative opinion about generic drugs was associated with the non-acceptance of the switch (odds ratio, 0.02; P = .015).
• Persistence rates with the initial adalimumab biosimilar were 68.6% at 6 months and 60.4% at 12 months, and the overall survival without the discontinuation of the adalimumab biosimilars was 76.7% at 6 months and 71% at 12 months.
• Injection site pain was the main reason for the discontinuation of the adalimumab biosimilars in 24.7% of patients, which led 22 patients to switch back to the adalimumab reference product.
• The clinical remission rate was 90.4% at 12 months for patients who remained on their initial adalimumab biosimilar. Moreover, 65.8% of respondents of the perception questionnaire reported a positive experience with the switch.

IN PRACTICE:

"Our findings support the feasibility and acceptance of switching to biosimilars by physicians managing IBD patients in clinical practice," the authors wrote.

"While our findings suggest that addressing patient concerns and enhancing education about biosimilars — potentially with the support of a trained nurse to guide the transition — may improve the overall experience and persistence with these therapies, further studies with comparator groups are needed to better assess the nurse's role in facilitating these transitions," they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Gabrielle D'Abbundo, Claude Huriez Hospital, University of Lille 2, Lille, France. It was published online on April 23, 2025, in Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology.

LIMITATIONS:

This study was conducted at a single centre with a small sample size and a relatively short follow-up duration. The consideration of only five adalimumab biosimilars may have limited the generalisability of the findings. The lack of endoscopic evaluations during the study period may have hindered the objective assessment of disease activity.

DISCLOSURES:

This study did not receive any specific financial support. Several authors reported receiving board membership and personal, consultancy, and lecture fees from various pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.