WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. – , according to an analysis presented at the meeting held by the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis. Teriflunomide reduces the risks of relapse, relapse resulting in hospital admission, and relapse resulting in prolonged hospitalization, compared with placebo.
Teriflunomide modulates the immune system and is an approved treatment for relapsing-remitting MS and clinically isolated syndrome. The phase 3 TEMSO study provided evidence that established the treatment’s safety and efficacy. In that study, significantly more patients who received a 14-mg dose of teriflunomide achieved NEDA, compared with patients who received placebo. Researchers generally weight all components of NEDA (i.e., confirmed disability worsening [CDW], relapse, and unique active MRI lesions) equally, but this approach could limit the interpretation of how each endpoint contributes to the effectiveness of a disease-modifying therapy.
A new analysis of TEMSO data
Keith R. Edwards, MD, director of the MS Center of Northeastern New York in Latham and colleagues conducted a win ratio matched-pairs analysis of TEMSO data to evaluate the efficacy of teriflunomide in enabling patients to achieve NEDA. In this analysis, the components of NEDA were assessed in order of priority, rather than as factors of equal weight.
In TEMSO, patients with relapsing-remitting MS received placebo or 14 mg of teriflunomide for 108 weeks. Dr. Edwards and colleagues matched active and control patients according to baseline characteristics. They compared the occurrence of disease activity events between the members of each pair. If a patient receiving teriflunomide had an event later than a control did, or did not have the event at all, teriflunomide was considered to “win.” If neither patient in a pair had a given event, the researchers omitted the pair from their analysis. Dr. Edwards and colleagues counted wins and summarized them as ratios. They conducted a second win ratio analysis of all relapses and relapses resulting in deaths, life-threatening events, prolonged hospitalizations, and hospital admissions.
NEDA components were ranked and assessed in the following order of decreasing priority: CDW, relapse, unique active MRI lesions. In a sensitivity analysis, the investigators ranked and assessed these components in the reverse order.
Sensitivity analysis supported primary analysis
Dr. Edwards and colleagues included 363 participants who received placebo and 358 who received teriflunomide in their analysis. Baseline characteristics did not differ significantly between the two groups. The population’s mean age was approximately 38 years, and about 73% of participants were female. The population’s mean baseline Expanded Disability Status Scale score was 2.7. Overall, about 72% of participants completed the study.
The researchers created 321 risk-matched pairs of participants. The win ratio analysis indicated that patients who received teriflunomide were significantly more likely to achieve NEDA, compared with controls (win ratio, 1.33). When the investigators analyzed the data by prioritizing the NEDA components in the reverse order, they found similar results (win ratio, 1.41).
When Dr. Edwards and colleagues analyzed relapse severity, they found that no relapses resulting in death or life-threatening events occurred in the active or control groups. Compared with placebo, teriflunomide significantly reduced the risk of relapse, relapses resulting in hospital admissions, and relapses resulting in prolonged hospitalizations (win ratio, 1.37).
The TEMSO study was funded by Sanofi. Dr. Edwards received grant or research support from Biogen, Genentech, Genzyme, and Novartis. Several authors received funding from Sanofi.
SOURCE: Edwards KR et al. ACTRIMS 2020, Abstract P036.