Real-world clinical effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab and anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha treatment in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease patients: a German retrospective chart review

Background Real-world comparisons of biologic treatment outcomes for ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) patients are limited. We sought to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of vedolizumab (VDZ) and anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNFα) in UC and CD patients in Germany. Methods A retrospective chart review (15 sites) investigated UC and CD patients who were biologic-treatment naïve (biologic-naïve) or had received no more than one prior anti-TNFα before initiating treatment with VDZ or anti-TNFα between 15 July 2014 and 20 October 2015. Kaplan-Meier analyses assessed time to first chart-documented clinical remission (CR) and symptom resolution (UC: rectal bleeding [RB], stool frequency [SF]; CD: abdominal pain [AP], liquid stools [LS]) and outcome duration. Results A total of 133 UC (76 VDZ; 57 anti-TNFα) and 174 CD (69 VDZ; 105 anti-TNFα) patients were included. By Week 26, estimated cumulative rates of patients achieving CR or symptom resolution with VDZ vs anti-TNFα treatment were for UC: CR, 53.7% vs 31.7%; RB, 66.8% vs 55.8%; and SF, 59.8% vs 50.7%, respectively; and for CD: CR, 14.4% vs 32.8%; AP, 62.5% vs 56.0%; and LS, 29.9% vs 50.3%, respectively. Outcomes were sustained similarly between treatments, except RB (VDZ vs anti-TNFα: median 38.1 vs 15.1 weeks, P = 0.03). Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 5.3% vs 7.0% (UC) and 8.7% vs 19.0% (CD) of VDZ vs anti-TNFα patients, respectively. Conclusions Although there were differences in CR, symptom resolution, and safety profiles, real-world data support both VDZ and anti-TNFα as effective treatment options in UC and CD.