4Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ
Citations 3
Baseline Characteristics of Individuals with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria in an App-Based Home-Reported Outcomes Study to Evaluate Disease Burden
Background and significance: Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare condition caused by a somatic mutation in the PIG-A gene, leading to complement-mediated hemolysis and severe complications such as anemia and thrombosis. Patients often experience fatigue, dyspnea, and abdominal pain, impacting their daily lives and emotional well-being. This study aims to comprehensively explore the impact of PNH on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), alongside real-world treatment utilization and symptom burden patterns, especially as new treatments become available to this patient population. These results are based on interim baseline data from currently enrolled study participants, providing an initial assessment of their PNH disease experience. This analysis does not include any data collected prospectively during the data collection period. Study design and methods: This ongoing, prospective, observational study (NCT06411626) aims to enroll at least 128 US-based participants aged 18 or older with PNH, regardless of treatment usage. Participants are recruited through clinician-based referrals, patient advocacy organizations, and community-based online channels. All activities can be completed remotely using the Folia Health app, the single site for this study. This app-based study aims to comprehensively assess patient-reported symptom burden, treatment use patterns, and impacts of PNH on health and FACIT-Fatigue through self-reported home-reported outcomes (HROs). Participants will track symptoms and treatment use, including recently approved treatments (e.g., iptacopan, danicopan, crovalimab). HROs consist of participants' self-identified symptoms and personalized treatment plan that are tracked longitudinally against self-reported baselines. Semi-structured interviews and collaborative feedback sessions with PNH patients and clinicians yielded a comprehensive outcomes inventory for tracking key health outcomes specific to PNH. This inventory includes the ability to track infusion treatments and denote flare-ups in fatigue. Participants can customize their data collection to track symptoms in additional domains beyond those initially suggested (e.g., respiratory or immune). At enrollment, participants report baseline health status and select their relevant symptoms and treatments to routinely track for 6 months. Monthly in-app surveys will collect data on overall health and the FACIT- Fatigue. The Folia app allows participants to visualize symptoms trends, set treatment reminders, and generate reports for their care team. Results: Enrollment began on June 11, 2024. As of July 22, 2024, an interim data analysis was conducted on 20 participants; 65% (n=13) enrolled through online community-based channels and 35% (n=7) enrolled through clinic referrals. Participants selected 37 distinct symptoms and measurements and 26 distinct treatments to track over the 6-month period. The most common symptoms selected at baseline include fatigue (n=19), brain fog (n=17), and dark colored urine (n=15). PNH treatments selected for tracking include iptacopan (n=9), ravulizumab (n=5), eculizumab (n=4), and pegcetacoplan (n=3). The mean baseline FACIT- Fatigue score (n=18) was 35.7 and the median was 40 (IQR= 16). Further descriptive analyses stratified by primary treatment use will be conducted assessing characteristics of symptom burden, satisfaction with treatments-in-use, and self-reported impact on HRQoL. Conclusions: Initial interim baseline data of recently enrolled participants with PNH show a variable disease experience. This app-based, observational study aims to establish a new real-world data source to understand patient priorities related to symptom variability, treatment patterns and preference, and impacts of condition management on HRQoL.
Early Insights into Real-World Iptacopan Use Among Patients with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria in the United States: The Apprise-PNH Data Platform
Introduction: Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare, acquired, life-threatening hematological disorder affecting approximately 24 people per million in the United States (US). Iptacopan, the first orally administered monotherapy for PNH, received US Food and Drug Administration approval in December 2023. APPRISE-PNH (A Patient Platform for Real-world data on Iptacopan in the United StatEs for patients with PNH) is a data platform designed to capture comprehensive real-world information on patients with PNH treated with iptacopan in the US. This interim analysis aims to provide early insights into the characteristics and treatment patterns of patients enrolled in APPRISE-PNH to date. Methods: APPRISE-PNH is a retrospective, longitudinal, data platform including adult patients (age ≥18 years) with PNH treated with iptacopan in the US real-world setting. Consenting patients in the US are recruited through the iptacopan distribution network. The present analysis includes data from patients enrolled between July 2 and July 26, 2024, with additional data collection expected through the remainder of 2024 and 2025. Patient characteristics and treatment patterns were evaluated descriptively. Duration of therapy was measured from the date of iptacopan initiation until the date of iptacopan discontinuation or data cut-off, whichever occurred first. Treatment adherence was measured using both the medication possession ratio (MPR), calculated as the ratio of the total days supply to days covered, and the proportion of days covered (PDC), calculated as the ratio of days with supply to days covered. Results: As of July 26th, 2024, nine patients with PNH have enrolled in the APPRISE-PNH data platform. The median age at the start of iptacopan therapy was 44 years (interquartile range [IQR] 40-73 years), seven (78%) patients were female, and four (44%) were covered by commercial insurance. Overall, two (22%) patients were treatment-naïve at the start of iptacopan therapy, while seven (78%) patients had received prior complement-inhibitor (CI) therapy for PNH (44% ravulizumab, 44% eculizumab, 33% pegcetacoplan). The median duration of iptacopan therapy was 2.0 months (IQR 1.5-2.9 months). All patients received iptacopan 200 mg twice daily (as per the product label) and the median number of fills was 2.0 (IQR 1.0-3.0). At the time of data cut-off, no patients had discontinued iptacopan therapy. The MPR in this group of patients was 136% (IQR 114%-150%) and PDC was 100% (IQR 100%-100%). Conclusions: These are the first data from the APPRISE-PNH data platform and represent the first insights into real-world use of iptacopan in the US. Many patients enrolled in APPRISE-PNH had previously received CI therapy for PNH. Treatment adherence, as indicated by both the MPR and PDC, was high across iptacopan-treated patients. Enrollment into the APPRISE-PNH data platform is currently ongoing; data from additional patients, additional laboratory and clinical outcomes, and longer follow-up data are expected to be available at the time of presentation.
Health-Related Quality of Life and Symptom-Specific Functional Impairment Among Patients Treated with Parenterally Administered Complement Inhibitors for Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria
Introduction: Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare, acquired, life-threatening, stem cell disorder that renders red blood cells vulnerable to complement-mediated hemolysis. This study describes the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and symptom-specific functional impairment of patients with PNH in a real-world setting. Methods: US-based adults with PNH treated with a parenterally administered complement inhibitor (PACI) for ≥6 months completed an online, cross-sectional, observational survey; a subset of patients also participated in individual semi-structured qualitative interviews after completing the survey. The survey included the PROMIS® 29+2 Profile v2.1 (PROMIS 29+2) to measure HRQoL. The FACIT Fatigue, Neuro-QOL Item Bank v2.0 Cognitive Function Short Form, and PROMIS Item Bank v1.0 Dyspnea Functional Limitations 10a Short Form measured functional impairment associated with specific symptoms of PNH. For each patient with PNH who completed the online survey, up to 3 age- (+/- 3 years) and sex-matched adults without PNH also completed the survey. The HRQoL and functional impairment of the PNH sample was compared to that of general population (GP) sample using independent samples t-tests or Mann-Whitney tests. To further explore the experiences of patients with PNH, the association between HRQoL/functional impairment and fatigue severity was investigated. Patients with PNH were grouped according to their self-reported fatigue severity over the past 7 days (very mild or mild vs moderate, severe, or very severe [no patients reported no fatigue]). Differences in scores across these 2 groups were tested. Data from the qualitative interviews were coded using thematic analysis to explore key concepts related to HRQoL and impairment due to PNH symptoms. Data collection began in March 2023; results are based on interim data. Results: Demographic characteristics of the study samples (PNH survey sample: N=31, GP survey sample: N=62, PNH interview sample: N=10) are shown in Table 1. Patients were treated for PNH with eculizumab, pegcetacoplan, or ravulizumab, with an average duration of current PACI treatment of 3.4 years. Compared to the age and sex-matched GP sample, patients with PNH had significantly higher median scores on the PROMIS 29+2 fatigue domain (GP: 48.70 vs PNH: 57.10, p=0.041) and PROMIS Dyspnea Functional Limitations short form (GP: 40.70 vs PNH: 48.60, p=0.036), indicating that patients with PNH experience more fatigue and dyspnea limitations than the GP sample. Patients with PNH also had significantly lower median scores on the PROMIS 29+2 ability to participate in social roles/activities domain (GP: 53.50 vs PNH: 44.20, p=0.013), indicating greater role/activity limitations among patients with PNH. Compared to the GP sample, patients with PNH had numerically lower (i.e., worse) median PROMIS 29+2 cognitive functioning domain scores (GP: 50.00 vs PNH: 46.30, p=0.058) and FACIT Fatigue scores (GP: 39.50 vs PNH: 30.00, p=0.057). Within the PNH sample, statistically significant associations (p<0.05) were observed between fatigue severity and HRQoL/functional impairment for all outcomes except for the PROMIS 29+2 sleep disturbance and cognitive functioning domains (Table 2). Patients with more severe fatigue had worse HRQoL and more functional impairment than patients with less severe fatigue. Interview participants described fatigue-related functional impairments in their physical, social, and cognitive functioning. Fatigue made daily activities (e.g., cooking, cleaning, going for a walk) difficult and sometimes impossible. Planning social activities in advance was also challenging as patients could not predict how they would feel on any given day, and often found they had to miss, postpone, or cancel social engagements. Finally, patients described experiencing “brain fog” including difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, and delayed cognitive processing. Conclusions: Despite receiving treatment for PNH, patients experienced deficits in areas of HRQoL related to fatigue, participation in social roles, cognitive function, and functional limitations due to dyspnea, relative to a sample of GP adults. During follow-up interviews, patients emphasized the deep and broad impacts that fatigue and cognitive functioning had, making daily activities and their social lives very difficult.