AB0306 EXPERIENCE WITH RITUXIMAB BIOSIMILAR BCD-020 IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS IN REAL-WORLD CLINICAL PRACTICE ACCORDING TO DATA FROM MOSCOW UNIFIED ARTHRITIS REGISTRY (MUAR)

Abstract

Background:The introduction of perspective anti-rheumatic biologic agents into clinical practice has not only increased therapy efficacy and improved medical prognosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but also resulted in a dramatic increase in treatment cost and, therefore, in a reduced accessibility of the innovative treatment for patients. For this reason, over the last years, there has been a huge interest towards developing biosimilars [1,2].Objectives:To assess the effectiveness and safety of switching from reference rituximab (RTXref) to rituximab biosimilar (RTXbs) BCD-020 in patients with RA in real clinical practice according to the data from MUAR.Methods:Patients with RA who treated by RTXrefat the onset and then switched to RTXbs(BCD-020) were enrolled in the study. For all patients were performed: swollen and tender joints count, ESR, CRP, biochemistry and immunologic blood analyses. Assessment of dynamic of DAS28, RAPID3, HAQ-DI was performed. The great attention was given to the therapy safety assessment. RTXrefeffectiveness and safety profile was assessed at the moment of switching; data for RTXbs(BCD-020) were collected not earlier than 6 months after switching.Results:46 patients with RA were enrolled, 80.5% were women; the mean age was 59.5±12.2 years; 91.3% were RF-positive, 63% - ACCPA-positive, the disease activity at the moment of switching was moderate, the mean DAS28 was 3.5. The duration of RTXreftherapy until switching was 36.8 ± 26.8 months; the duration of the follow-up period for BCD-020 biosimilar was 12.1 ± 6.18 months. In 43.5% of patients, previously inefficiency or intolerance of other biologics was discovered. The proportion of patients who received concomitant therapy with glucocorticoids or methotrexate (MTX) was 45.7% and 43.5%, respectively. The mean MTX dose was 13.6 mg/wk. The mean dose of RTXref/BCD-020 was 1000 mg. The stability dynamic of clinical parameters was retained after switching to biosimilar (Tab.1) without significant difference between the rituximab products (р>0.05).Table 1.Comparison of Efficiency Parameters for the Reference Rituximab and Biosimilar BCD-020ParameterReference rituximabBiosimilar BCD-020DAS28 (ESR)3.393.34HAQ-DI1.481.44RAPID312.912.6The safety profile of RTXrefand RTXbs(BCD-020) was also similar. None of the patients discontinued BCD-020 therapy for reasons related to safety or inefficiency.Conclusion:Within the framework of routine clinical practice, switching from reference rituximab to BCD-020 biosimilar is not accompanied by a change in efficiency and safety profile of the therapy and does not pose a risk of discontinuation, which is coherent with the results of the registration clinical trial for BCD-020. [3]