Recapturing remission in UC with subcutaneous infliximab

A real-world study showed that subcutaneous infliximab maintenance therapy is a viable option for patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), even for those who experienced a suboptimal response to intravenous infliximab.

“Subcutaneous infliximab has demonstrated comparable efficacy and safety to intravenous infliximab in patients with UC,” expressed Dr Kyuwon Kim (Chung-Ang University Hospital, South Korea) [1]. The presented study evaluated the real-world effectiveness of subcutaneous infliximab after switching from intravenous infliximab. “We focussed particularly on improvements in clinical remission among patients with UC who had a suboptimal response when treated with intravenous infliximab,” said Dr Kim. The research group included 181 patients with UC on intravenous infliximab maintenance therapy (5 mg/kg), who then switched to subcutaneous infliximab 8 weeks after their last intravenous injection, at a dose of 120 mg every 2 weeks.

In participants in clinical remission at week 0, the clinical remission rates were 78.0%, 80.3%, 70.4%, and 78.3% at weeks 26, 50, 74, and 98, respectively. For participants who were not in clinical remission at week 0, the corresponding rates were 31.0%, 47.5%, 52.8%, and 43.5% at the respective timepoints. Next, drug survival rates were 86.7% at 1 year and 82.0% at 2 years of follow-up. Finally, the re-switch rate was 3.9%. “This was mainly due to injection site discomfort,” clarified Dr Kim.

In this real-world study, subcutaneous infliximab performed well as maintenance therapy for patients with UC. “Many patients in clinical remission at baseline maintained clinical remission after switching to the subcutaneous treatment, and a substantial proportion of non-remitters at baseline recaptured clinical remission after the switch,” decided Dr Kim.

1. Kim K, et al. Real-world evidence of recapturing clinical remission with subcutaneous infliximab after switching from intravenous therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis: a 2-year multicentre prospective study in Korea. Abstract Tu1902, Digestive Disease Week 2025, 3–6 May 2025, San Diego, USA.

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Posted on 21 May 202521 May 2025