Monoclonal Antibody Effective for MS Across Real-World Studies

Initial data on the real-world effectiveness of ocrelizumab in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and primary progressive MS is consistently favorable, according to findings from a systematic review published in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. 

The systematic review included 52 real-world studies reporting on the effectiveness of ocrelizumab for relapsing-remitting MS and primary progressive MS. Among them, 7 reported outcomes from the United States, 33 in Europe, 2 in the Middle East, and 1 in South America. The remainder focused on various geographical regions or did not report a country. Full text was available for 44% of the studies; the rest were conference abstracts.

Across studies, the real-world effectiveness of ocrelizumab was consistent, according to the review. Improvements in relapse rates and disease progression rates were comparable to improvements reported in OPERA I/OPERA II and ORATORIO clinical trials, even in real-world studies with diverse patient populations.

The half-dozen studies that reported outcome data for other treatments as well as ocrelizumab suggested similar or greater efficacy with ocrelizumab, although comparative effectiveness conclusions, researchers pointed out, are difficult to draw from real-world studies.

Additionally, the authors noted that most studies spanned just a year or less.

“Therefore, further work will be required to monitor the long-term impact of ocrelizumab in relapsing-remitting MS and primary progressive MS patients as larger, comparative real-world studies with longer follow-up are published,” wrote corresponding author Alex Simpson of F. Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, Switzerland, and coauthors.

Reference:
Montalban X, Matthews PM, Simpson A, et al. Real-world evaluation of ocrelizumab in multiple sclerosis: a systematic review. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. Published online February 2, 2023. doi:10.1002/acn3.51732