Long Washout Periods Between Biologics for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Trials Are Unnecessary: A Canadian Retrospective Cohort Study.

Abstract

To assess the safety of early vs late biologic switch in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. In this retrospective study, we included patients with inflammatory bowel disease who underwent biologic switch between January 2014 and July 2022 at a tertiary center. The primary outcome was any infection by 6 months. There was no statistically significant difference between patients who had early biologic switch (≤30 days, n = 51) and late switch (>30 days, n = 77) in either infectious or noninfectious adverse events by 6 and 12 months. Early biologic switch is safe. A prolonged washout period between 2 biologics is unnecessary.