VIDEO: Guselkumab outperforms placebo for UC regardless of prior therapeutic failure
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a Healio video exclusive, David T. Rubin, MD, FACG, reported guselkumab induced greater improvement across key outcomes compared with placebo among patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.
Specifically, patients treated with guselkumab (Tremfya, Janssen) in the QUASAR phase 2b induction study demonstrated a greater clinical response at week 12 vs. placebo regardless of prior inadequate response or intolerance to advanced therapy (with: 50.5% vs. 25.5%; without: 70.3% vs. 29.6%). Further results showed similar effects across endoscopic and histologic outcomes.
“Although the study was overall positive for guselkumab across all endpoints... when you specifically look at the tough-to-treat group that had been on more than one advanced therapy, we had lower rates across the board, but still statistically significant results,” Rubin, chief of the section of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition and director of the Digestive Disease Center at the University of Chicago, said. “Guselkumab at both [400 mg and 200 mg] doses were superior to placebo at clinical response, symptomatic remission and numerically better for clinical remission, endoscopic improvement and endoscopic normalization.”
He added: “Getting patients on effective therapies earlier before they have gone through multiple other treatments and demonstrate their resistance to those treatments, or maybe even had progression of their disease on those treatments always works better. Understanding that this is a good therapy for patients at any time course in their history, we might want to continue to look at when we can use these therapies in an earlier group of people.”
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Rubin D, et al. Abstract S717: The Effect of Guselkumab Induction Therapy in Patients With Moderately to Severely Active Ulcerative Colitis: QUASAR Phase 2b Induction Results at Week 12 by Prior Inadequate Response or Intolerance to Advanced Therapy. Presented at: ACG Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct. 21-26, 2022; Charlotte (hybrid meeting).
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