Short-term Biosimilar Adalimumab Provides Long-term Relief for Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ten weeks of biosimilar adalimumab resulted in significant improvement that often lasted 6 months to 1 year in patients with difficult-to-treat ankylosing spondylitis, according to a single-center trial conducted published in Cureus.

“Short-term use of biosimilar adalimumab is viable for treating difficult ankylosing spondylitis in resource-constrained settings like ours,” wrote study authors from the Center for Rheumatic Diseases, a community clinic in Pune, India. “However, more research is needed before it can be accepted as a standard treatment modality for ankylosing spondylitis.”

The prospective study gauged long-term relief with short-term biosimilar adalimumab in 50 patients with symptomatic chronic ankylosing spondylitis who had no history of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy. Patients received 40 mg of biosimilar adalimumab subcutaneously every 2 weeks, for a total of 6 injections over a 10-week period.

After the final injection, many patients demonstrated notable improvements in pain, need for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and function, as well as on several indicators, including the Assessment Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS) 20 and 40 criteria, ASAS partial remission, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index, and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score, researchers reported.

ASAS 20 improvement occurred in 84% of patients at week 12 and 52% of patients at week 48, the study showed. ASAS partial remission occurred in 34% at week 12 and 24% at week 48.

“Proof of concept was provided by 21 patients (42%) who showed a continued improvement on the ASAS 20 index at the week 12, 24, and 36 time points,” researchers wrote. “Patients improved significantly with early response, which persisted, albeit with some decline, until the study’s completion at 48 weeks … with week 12 showing the greatest improvement.”

Reference:
Chopra A, Khadke N, Saluja M, Kianifard T, Venugopalan A, Gharia M. The long-term effects of short-period adalimumab biosimilar usage in ankylosing spondylitis. Cureus. 2023;15(3):e36444. doi:10.7759/cureus.36444