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Evaluation of clinical benefit from treatment with mepolizumab for patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Steinfeld, Jonathan 
Bradford, Eric S 
Brown, Judith 
Mallett, Stephen 
Yancey, Steven W 

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In a recent phase III trial (NCT02020889) 53% of mepolizumab-treated versus 19% of placebo-treated patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) achieved protocol-defined remission. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate post hoc the clinical benefit of mepolizumab in patients with EGPA using a comprehensive definition of benefit encompassing remission, oral glucocorticoid (OGC) dose reduction, and EGPA relapses. METHODS: The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group trial recruited patients with relapsing/refractory EGPA receiving stable OGCs (prednisolone/prednisone, ≥7.5-50 mg/d) for 4 or more weeks. Patients received 300 mg of subcutaneous mepolizumab or placebo every 4 weeks for 52 weeks. Clinical benefit was defined post hoc as follows: remission at any time (2 definitions used), 50% or greater OGC dose reduction during weeks 48 to 52, or no EGPA relapses. The 2 remission definitions were Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score of 0 plus OGC dose of 4 mg/d or less (remission 1/clinical benefit 1) or 7.5 mg/d or less (remission 2/clinical benefit 2). Clinical benefit was assessed in all patients and among subgroups with a baseline blood eosinophil count of less than 150 cells/μL, baseline OGC dosage of greater than 20 mg/d, or weight of greater than 85 kg. RESULTS: With mepolizumab versus placebo, 78% versus 32% of patients experienced clinical benefit 1, and 87% versus 53% of patients experienced clinical benefit 2 (both P < .001). Significantly more patients experienced clinical benefit 1 with mepolizumab versus placebo in the blood eosinophil count less than 150 cells/μL subgroup (72% vs 43%, P = .033) and weight greater than 85 kg subgroup (68% vs 23%, P = .005); in the OGC greater than 20 mg/d subgroup, results were not significant but favored mepolizumab (60% vs 36%, P = .395). CONCLUSION: When a comprehensive definition of clinical benefit was applied to data from a randomized controlled trial, 78% to 87% of patients with EGPA experienced benefit with mepolizumab.

Description

Keywords

Churg-Strauss syndrome, Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, IL-5, eosinophils, mepolizumab, vasculitis, Adult, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, Double-Blind Method, Eosinophilic Granuloma, Eosinophils, Female, Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis, Humans, Interleukin-5, Leukocyte Count, Male, Middle Aged, Placebos, Prednisolone, Treatment Outcome

Journal Title

J Allergy Clin Immunol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0091-6749
1097-6825

Volume Title

143

Publisher

Elsevier BV