AB0416 A COMPARATIVE STUDY TO ASSESS THE EFFICACY, SAFETY, AND IMMUNOGENICITY OF YLB113 AND ETANERCEPT REFERENCE PRODUCT FOR THE TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH ACTIVE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Authors: Hisashi Yamanaka, Naoyuki Kamatani, Yoshiya Tanaka, Toshihiko Hibino, Edit Drescher, Juan Sánchez-Bursón, Manfred Rettenbacher, Girish Bhatia, Snehal Gadve, Chirag Shah, Dhananjay Bakhle
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2019)

<h3>Background</h3> YLB113 is an investigational biosimilar of the reference product etanercept (ETN), being developed for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other approved indications of the reference product ETN. <h3>Objectives</h3> The phase 3 study of YLB113 was conducted in Europe, Japan, and India across more than 100 rheumatology clinics to compare efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of YLB113 with ETN in patients with RA. <h3>Methods</h3> A total of 528 patients with moderate-to-severe RA receiving concomitant treatment with methotrexate were randomized to receive a once-weekly dose of 50 mg of subcutaneously administered YLB113 or ETN. The primary end point was the ACR20 response rate at Week 24, with equivalence confirmed if the 95% confidence interval (CI) was within the range of –15% to 15%. Other efficacy end points, such as DAS28 with safety and immunogenicity end points, were assessed periodically up to Week 52. <h3>Results</h3> The ACR20 response rate at Week 24 was 81.2% for YLB113 and 86.8% for ETN in the full analysis set, with a treatment difference of –5.6% (95% CI: –11.6, 0.5), which was completely within the predefined equivalence margin of −15% to 15%. The result for sensitivity analysis using the per protocol set population revealed that the proportion of subjects who showed ACR20 response at Week 24 was similar between both treatment groups, at –4.6% (95% CI: –10.1, 0.8). The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events was comparable between YLB113 and ETN (55.5% vs 65.7%), and the incidence of antidrug antibody development up to Week 24 was in favor of YLB113 (0.8% vs 8.3%). <h3>Conclusion</h3> The present comparative study demonstrated the biosimilarity of YLB113 to ETN on the triad of efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity in patients with moderate-to-severe RA, and thus can be extrapolated to other therapeutic indications approved for ETN. The therapeutic equivalence of YLB113 and ETN in terms of the primary efficacy end point at Week 24 and long-term safety comparability until Week 52 was established with lower immunogenicity. <h3>Disclosure of Interests</h3> Hisashi Yamanaka Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Eisai, Bristol-Meyers, Novartis, Behringer, Astellas, Kaken, Nippon-Shinyaku, Pfizer, UCB, Ayumi, Ono, Daiichi-Sankyo, Taisyo-Toyama, Takeda, Tanabe-Mitsubishi, Chugai, Teijin Pharma, Torii, YLbio, Speakers bureau: Bristol-Meyers, Astellas, Pfizer, Daiichi-Sankyo, Takeda, Tanabe-Mitsubishi, Chugai, Teijin Pharma, YLbio, Naoyuki Kamatani Speakers bureau: I was a speaker in meetings and paid for the speech by YLB Pharma, Teijin Pharma, Chugai, Pfizer, Fuji Yakuhin, Sanwa Kagaku, Asahi Kasei Pharma and Asteras-Amzen BioPharma., Yoshiya Tanaka Grant/research support from: Abbvie, Astellas, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chugai, Daiichi-Sankyo, Eisai, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, MSD, Ono, Taisho-Toyama, Takeda, Speakers bureau: Abbvie, Asahi-kasei, Astellas, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chugai, Daiichi-Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Eisai, Glaxo-Smithkline, Janssen, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Novartis, Pfizer Japan Inc, Sanofi, Takeda, UCB, YL Biologics, Toshihiko Hibino Consultant for: I had worked in Japanese Pharmaceutical Company (Showa Yakkako Company Co. Ltd.) as unaffiliated director until 2015 but have no conflict on business including newly built company (Ayumi Pharmaceutical Company Co. Ltd.) since then., Edit Drescher: None declared, Juan Sánchez-Bursón: None declared, Manfred Rettenbacher Employee of: I'm an employee of Lupin Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Girish Bhatia: None declared, Snehal Gadve Consultant for: Was working as a consultant for YLB company, Chirag Shah Employee of: I'm an employee of Lupin Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Dhananjay Bakhle Employee of: I'm an employee of Lupin Pharmaceuticals Ltd.