Higher Adherence Rates With Ocrelizumab vs Other MS Therapies

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in real-world settings had better rates of adherence and persistence at 24 months with ocrelizumab compared with disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) administered via oral, injectable, or other intravenous routes, according to a study published in Neurology and Therapy.

“Ocrelizumab was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2017 and is currently the only therapy indicated for both relapsing and primary progressive MS,” researchers wrote. “The ocrelizumab twice-yearly dosing schedule was hypothesized to increase compliance as it offers less frequent dosing compared with most other marketed DMTs.”

To investigate adherence and persistence with ocrelizumab, researchers conducted a claims analysis using data from the IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental databases. Adherence was based on proportion of days covered, with 80% or higher considered adherent. Persistence was defined as no evidence of switching DMTs or coverage gaps of 60 days or more.

The study included 1710 patients with at least 24 months of follow-up after initiating a new DMT for MS. Among them, 524 initiated treatment with ocrelizumab, and 701 with oral, 365 with injectable, and 120 with other intravenous (IV) DMTs.

At 24 months, adherence for patients initiating ocrelizumab was 80%, compared with 55% for oral, 35% for injectable, and 54% for other IV DMTs, according to the study. Persistence was 75% with ocrelizumab, compared with 54% for oral, 33% for injectable, and 55% for other IV DMTs.

Compared with patients initiating ocrelizumab, relative risks for 24-month nonadherence were 2.2 for oral, 3.0 for injectable, and 2.2 for other IV DMTs. Relative risks for 24-month discontinuation were 1.9 for oral, 2.5 for injectable, and 1.8 for other IV DMTs.

“Optimizing medication adherence and persistence is fundamental to MS care, so clinicians should consider all elements of DMTs that may improve compliance,” researchers advised.

Reference:
Pardo G, Pineda ED, Ng CD, Bawa KK, Sheinson D, Bonine NG. Adherence to and persistence with disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis over 24 months: a retrospective claims analysis. Neurol Ther. 2022;11(1):337-351. doi:10.1007/s40120-021-00319-3