Q&A: ‘Exciting time’ for research into, development of treatments for CIDP

Key takeaways:

• Reasons for misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis for CIDP are complex and include multiple factors.
• The FDA approval of Vyvgart Hytrulo opens the door to a new treatment option.

Although there are no current reliable tests and few treatments for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, which affects about 40,000 individuals in the U.S., recent FDA approvals have made treatments a possibility.

Healio spoke with Karissa L. Gable, MD, an associate professor of neurology at Duke University and Luc Truyen, MD, PhD, chief medical officer at argenx, a biotechnology firm that recently received FDA approval for Vyvgart Hytrulo, a subcutaneous injection for treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), to assess the next steps for patients with the neurodegenerative condition and clinicians.

Healio: What do you suppose are the primary reasons for misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of CIDP?

Gable: The reason for the high rate of misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis is complex and multifactorial and includes a lack of adherence to the 2021 EAN/PNS guidelines for CIDP, diagnostic mimics and a misinterpretation of electrodiagnostic data. Atypical variants are sometimes harder to diagnose than typical CIDP.

Healio: What and how should clinicians advocate for regarding the patient experience with a new CIDP diagnosis?

Gable: With a new diagnosis of CIDP, I would encourage patients to become involved with the GBS/CIDP foundation. This foundation is a superb advocate for patients and serves as a great resource for patients and physicians.

Healio: Given the encouraging results of the ADHERE clinical trial, what do you believe should be the focus of CIDP therapies?

Gable: The focus of therapies and treatments for CIDP should be managed on an individual basis to determine the ideal treatment course for a patient within the context of established guidelines, co-morbidities of the patients and treatment expectations.

Healio: In January, the FDA approved Hyqvia as well as IV immunoglobulin therapy for CIDP. Last month, the FDA added an approval of Vyvgart Hytrulo for the condition. What do these approvals mean, philosophically and practically, for research and development into potential treatments?

Gable: It is an exciting time for research and development in CIDP and over the course of time, we will have a better understanding of where novel treatments fit into the treatment landscape.

Healio: What are the next steps for efgartigimod after ADHERE runs its course?

Truyen: argenx continues to pursue solutions for patients with severe autoimmunity. Vyvgart Hytrulo is a precision tool that has been shown to drive meaningful benefits for patients.

The FDA approval means that CIDP patients have a new treatment option and further affirms the therapeutic profile of Vyvgart Hytrulo and the potential of [neonatal fragment crystallizable receptor] blockade in Immunoglobulin G-mediated autoimmune diseases."

Reference:

Allen J, et al. Neurology. 2024;doi:10.1212/WNL-.0000000000206324.

For More Information

Learn more about CIDP here: https://www.argenx.com/news/argenx-announces-fda-approval-vyvgart-hytrulo-chronic-inflammatory-demyelinating-polyneuropathy.