LOVE-CD: Vedolizumab yields better outcomes in early than in late CD

Vedolizumab had a better safety profile and was more efficacious in patients with early Crohn’s disease (CD) than in patients with late CD, the final results of the prospective LOVE-CD trial demonstrated.

Prof. Geert D’Haens (Amsterdam University Medical Center, the Netherlands) and colleagues hypothesised that vedolizumab leads to better outcomes if it is administered in patients with early CD compared with administration in patients with late CD. The prospective LOVE-CD study (EudraCT: 2014-005376-29) enrolled 260 participants with moderately to severely active CD; 86 had early CD (<2 years) and 174 had late CD (>2 years). All participants received standard induction and maintenance dosing with vedolizumab 300 mg, intravenously administered, up to week 52. The primary endpoint was clinical and endoscopic remission at both weeks 26 and week 52.

The primary endpoint was met by 31% of the participants in the early CD group and by 9% of those in the late CD group (delta 22%; P=0.001). Furthermore, the absence of ulcers at week 52 was reported in 48% of participants receiving vedolizumab during early disease and 23% of participants during late disease (delta 25%; P<0.001). Likewise, endoscopic response rates at week 52 were in favour of the early disease group (57% vs 36%; delta 21%; P<0.001).

Next to the benefits in efficacy outcomes for patients with early disease, vedolizumab was associated with better safety outcomes in these participants. The serious adverse event rates were 27% for the late CD arm and 5% for the early CD arm (P<0.0001). “The infection rate was higher in the late CD arm than in the early CD arm (7% vs 1%),” said Prof. D’Haens. “This is probably not a consequence of vedolizumab treatment but may be related to the use of concomitant medication and perhaps more severe disease,” he reasoned.

“In this prospective study among patients with moderate to severe CD, vedolizumab was more efficacious and safer in early disease than in late disease,” concluded Prof. D’Haens.

1. 
   
   1. D’Haens GR, et al. Vedolizumab treatment in Crohn’s disease is safer and more effective in early than in late disease: final results of the LOVE-CD trial. OP147, UEG Week 2024, 12–15 October, Vienna, Austria.

Medical writing support was provided by Robert van den Heuvel.
Copyright ©2024 Medicom Medical Publishers



Posted on 17 October 2024