Extending ustekinumab dosing interval does not influence drug survival in IBD

Extending the treatment interval of ustekinumab from 8 to 12 weeks did not appear to reduce the effectiveness of the therapy in the majority of patients with stable inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The authors noted that future research should aim to identify which patients are at the lowest risk of relapse after extending the ustekinumab dosing interval.

The current study compared the drug survival of ustekinumab among patients with IBD in stable remission (≥6 months) who extended their treatment interval from every 8 weeks to every 12 weeks (n=105), with that in patients who continued on an 8-week dosing regimen (n=88) [1]. “Lengthening of the dosing interval occurred at the discretion of the treating physician and patient,” added Dr Monique Devillers (Erasmus MC, the Netherlands). “We performed inverse probability of treatment weighting to correct for selection bias and confounding factors,” mentioned Dr Devillers. “This did not impact our results and therefore I will present the unweighted results.”

The cumulative 24-week and 52-week drug survival rates of the 12-week group and 8-week group were comparable (70.2% vs 76.1%; P=0.45). In the subgroup of participants with Crohn’s disease, the corresponding rates were 74.9% and 74.6% (P=0.80). In the 12-week group, 26 participants had a so-called ‘drug event’. Of these 26, 22 intensified their ustekinumab therapy (mostly to an 8-week regimen), 3 switched therapy, and 1 participant discontinued therapy due to a malignancy. Of note, a drug event was also reported by 21 participants in the 8-week group.

“Lengthening of the ustekinumab treatment interval from 8 weeks to 12 weeks appeared to result in a comparable effectiveness in patients with stable IBD,” concluded Dr Devillers. “These were however preliminary study results and we need to await the completed follow-up, expected in May 2025.”

1. Devillers MJC, et al. Lengthening the Ustekinumab interval from every 8 weeks to every 12 weeks in IBD patients in remission. Abstract LB10, UEG Week 2024, 12–15 October, Vienna, Austria.

Medical writing support was provided by Robert van den Heuvel.

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Posted on 15 October 202417 October 2024