Diroximel fumarate linked to better outcomes compared with interferon in MS at 96 weeks

Key takeaways:

• Researchers compared data from those treated in the phase 3 EVOLVE-MS-1 and DECIDE studies.
• Treatment with diroximel fumarate led to lower relapse rate and fewer new lesions compared with interferon beta-1a.

For those with relapsing-remitting MS, treatment with diroximel fumarate was linked to better outcomes at 96 weeks compared with those given interferon beta-1a, according to a presentation at ECTRIMS 2023.

“There is limited comparative efficacy and safety data of diroximel fumarate and interferon beta-1a,” Christin Henning, MA, medical manager, medical affairs, neurology at Biogen, and colleagues wrote.

Researchers sought to compare safety and efficacy of these therapeutics in a sample of adults diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS.

They compared cohorts from the phase 3 open-label, 96-week EVOLVE-MS-1 study, which examined diroximel fumarate, and the phase 3 randomized, double-blind, active-controlled DECIDE study, which examined intramuscular daclizumab and interferon beta-1a for up to 144 weeks, through propensity score matching of individual patient data.

Based on data from 1,057 participants in EVOLVE-MS-1 and 922 from DECIDE, propensity score matching was performed in a 1:1 ratio analyzing key baseline characteristics along with comparisons between the groups with respect to relapses, disability progression, quality of life and adverse events. A total of 464 individuals from each study were considered.

According to results, those given diroximel fumarate had a significantly lower annualized relapse rate over 96 weeks compared with the interferon group (0.18 vs. 0.31), with the proportion of relapse-free patients significantly higher in the diroximel fumarate group than those treated with interferon (77.7% vs. 60.8%).

In addition, at week 96, the number of new T1 hypointense lesions (3 vs. 4.6) and new or enlarging T2 lesions (4.7 vs. 9.4) were significantly lower in the diroximel fumarate cohort compared with the interferon group. The number of adverse events was also significantly lower in the former group compared to the latter.

“This indirect comparison provides evidence that diroximel fumarate may be more effective and better tolerated than interferon beta-1a in the treatment of adults with [relapsing-remitting MS],” Henning and colleagues wrote.