A Swedish real word study of the long-term effectiveness and safety of fingolimod (IMSE 2) with focus on patients treated at least 48 months

• Background: Fingolimod (FGL) is an oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) introduced in Sweden 2011. Already from launch FGL was included in the Swedish “Immunomodulation and Multiple Sclerosis Epidemiology Study” (IMSE) in order to enable long-term surveillance of effectiveness and safety aspects in a large population-based cohort.Objective: To track the effectiveness and long-term safety of FGL in a real-world setting.Methods: Swedish MS patients are registered into the nationwide Swedish Neuro Registry (NeuroReg). IMSE 2 includes patients starting FGL treatment and clinical and demographic data are collected from the NeuroReg. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to assess changes in effectiveness measures.Results: From September 2011 until April 2019, 1652 MS patients (67% female; 90% RRMS) were included in IMSE 2. Mean age at treatment start was 39 years and mean treatment duration in the entire cohort was 39 months. 608 patients (64% female; 91% RRMS) had been treated with FGL for at least 48 months with a mean age at treatment start of 40 years and a mean treatment duration of 70 months. A majority (330/608) switched to FGL from interferons/glatiramer acetate, while 194/608 switched from natalizumab. 105/608 patients had discontinued FGL at some point, mainly due to lack of effect (31%) and adverse events (31%). Most patients (57/105) switched to rituximab after FGL discontinuation. The number of relapses per 1,000 patient years were reduced from 275 before FGL initiation to 40 during FGL treatment (27% missing data). In patients treated with FGL at least 48 months significant changes (mean) were seen in Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Multiple Sclerosis Severity Scale (MSSS), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). 80/184 patients had a 4-point or 10% increase in SDMT score between baseline and 48 months. In total 167 adverse events were reported to the Swedish Medical Products Agency of which 77 events were classified as serious.Conclusions: FGL displays a relatively high degree of drug persistence and clinical effectiveness is retained over time with significant improvements in MSSS, SDMT and VAS in patients treated at least 48 months. Furthermore, NeuroReg functions well as a drug surveillance platform, enabling monitoring of long-term effectiveness and safety.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Neurologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Neurology (hsv//eng)

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