Switching From Remicade to Biosimilar Inflectra Effective For IBD

Research presented at Digestive Disease Week 2017 found that switching from Remicade (infliximab; Janssen) to Inflectra (infliximab-dyyb; Pfizer) did not cause inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) symptoms to evolve among a patient cohort in France. 

“Infliximab is widely used for induction and maintenance therapy in IBD,” Pierre-Antoine Soret, of Cochin Hospital and Le Raincy-Montfermeil Hospital in France, and colleagues wrote. “Remicade was the first anti-TNF available, but its costs are high, placing a strain on health care systems. [Inflectra] is a biosimilar of Remicade with expected savings of 30 percent.” 

In order to determine the safety and efficacy of switching from Remicade to Inflectra among patients with IBD, the researchers studied 63 patients who switched between the two biologics. They included only patients with IBD who were currently on Remicade for at least three infusions with stable treatment. They collected data using an anonymous questionnaire at each infusion. They also assessed IBD activity and anti-infliximab antibodies before the first and third infusions of Inflectra.

The researchers found that after three infusions of Inflectra, 60 patients (95.2%) were still using the biosimilar treatment. Among the three patients that discontinued treatment, one was due to pregnancy, and the remaining two patients had IBD relapse. 

Study results showed that efficacy results were not significantly different compared to before the switch from Remicade to Inflectra. The researchers also noted that no patients developed anti-infliximab antibodies after switching. —David Costill