Jairath, Vipul

Abstract Background and Aims The long-term efficacy and safety of upadacitinib in patients with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease (CD) were evaluated in the U-ENDURE Long-Term Extension (LTE) study. Here we report the results after 2 years of total maintenance treatment. Methods U-ENDURE is an ongoing 240-week LTE study conducted at 243 sites across 43 countries (first patient enrolled in LTE 21 March 2019). Patients who completed the 52-week maintenance study continued their previously assigned treatment, once-daily upadacitinib 15 mg or upadacitinib 30 mg. Efficacy was analyzed at week 48 of the LTE; safety was analyzed in the cumulative study population (combined 52 week maintenance and 48 week LTE) and the LTE study population only (cutoff date: 19 December 2023). Results From LTE week 0 to week 48, as-observed efficacy rates for clinical remission (per stool frequency/abdominal pain score, upadacitinib 15 mg: 78.3% to 82.9%; upadacitinib 30 mg: 84.7% to 76.6%; per CD Activity Index, upadacitinib 15 mg: 81.3% to 83.1%; upadacitinib 30 mg: 86.1% to 86.8%), endoscopic response (upadacitinib 15 mg: 59.6% to 67.1%; upadacitinib 30 mg: 71.2% to 69.6%), inflammatory biomarkers, and quality-of-life outcomes remained stable. The safety profile of the cumulative maintenance population observed through LTE week 48 was consistent with previous trials in the upadacitinib CD program. Treatment-emergent adverse event rates for the cumulative maintenance population were 283.1 and 273.4 events/100 patient-years for upadacitinib 15 mg and upadacitinib 30 mg, respectively. Event rates of serious treatment-­emergent adverse events were 16.0 events/100 patient-years for upadacitinib 15 mg and 14.6 events/100 patient-years for upadacitinib 30 mg. The most common adverse events of special interest (≥ 5.0 events/100 patient-years) were hepatic disorder, lymphopenia, creatine phosphokinase elevation, herpes zoster, and anemia. There was 1 treatment-emergent adverse event of suicide leading to death. Conclusion Sustained clinical, endoscopic, quality-of-life, and biomarker outcomes were observed in patients who were initial responders to upadacitinib and completed 2 years of maintenance therapy, with no new safety signals identified. Clinical trial identifier U-ENDURE; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03345823.

Introduction Targeted immunomodulators (eg, advanced therapies) effectively achieve symptomatic remission in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, ~25%–50% of patients with IBD achieving symptomatic remission with an advanced therapy may have continued endoscopically/radiologically active bowel inflammation, and it is uncertain whether changing alternative advanced therapies in asymptomatic patients with IBD will reduce bowel inflammation and achieve durable deep remission. Methods and analysis The QUality Outcomes Treating IBD to Target (QUOTIENT) study is an open-label, multicentre, pragmatic, randomised, controlled trial that aims to compare the efficacy and safety of switching to an alternative advanced therapy targeting endoscopic/radiological remission (treat-to-target) versus continuing the initial, or index, advanced therapy, in asymptomatic patients with IBD with moderate-to-severe endoscopic/radiological bowel inflammation. Enrolment is planned for ~250 participants in Canada/USA, randomised 1:1 to switching to alternative advanced therapy or continuing index advanced therapy, and then followed 104 weeks within routine clinical practice. Patient-reported outcomes measure efficacy and quality of life/treatment burden/safety. Primary endpoint is the time from randomisation to treatment failure. Ethics and dissemination The study is conducted in compliance with the protocol, ICH Good Clinical Practice, applicable regulatory requirements and appropriate review boards/independent ethics committees (approval numbers: Pro00077486; Pro00061437; STUDY00002062; 22-004171; i22-01269; IRB22-0890; IRB_00154397; 2000032384; SHIRB#2022.095-2; STUDY00007146; MMC#2024-18; REB#125290; 17784; Pro00142214; 20240660-01H), with documented written informed consent. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, scientific presentations, and publicly available Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) websites, including lay summaries. The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Education, Support, and Advocacy Department, and our patient advocacy stakeholder, will develop educational and marketing resources to communicate findings to a broad audience (>250 000 patients/caregivers/healthcare professionals). Trial registration number NCT05230173 .

ABSTRACTBackground and AimsWe aimed to assess the impact of setons on perianal fistula outcomes in patients with perianal fistulising Crohn's disease (PFCD) treated with anti‐TNF therapy.MethodsWe included patients treated with their first anti‐TNF therapy for PFCD after undergoing a pelvic MRI between 2005 and 2022 from 6 North American centres. Our exposure was one or more setons at the time of anti‐TNF therapy. Our primary outcome was major adverse fistula outcome (MAFO), a composite of repeat local surgical intervention, hospitalisation, or faecal diversion for PFCD, and our secondary outcome was fistula remission defined clinically. We used 1:1 cardinality matching and propensity score weighting to control for fistula severity based on centrally read MRIs, luminal characteristics, and concomitant therapies.ResultsOur analysis included 221 patients: 81 with setons and 140 without setons. After cardinality matching, our cohorts were balanced (standardised difference < 0.1 for all covariates). Patients with setons had similar rates of MAFO (HR 1.23; 95% CI, 0.68–2.21) and fistula remission at 6 months (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.41–1.59) and 12 months (OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.31–1.27) compared to patients without setons. Our results remained stable when analysed by propensity score weighting and in a sensitivity analysis of patients who underwent an exam under anaesthesia. In patients with abscesses, there were lower rates of MAFO (HR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.19–1.25) but not statistically significant in patients with setons.ConclusionsIn this multicentre, setons were not associated with improved fistula outcomes. Future prospective controlled studies are warranted.

Abstract Background Progress in clinical trials and drug development for paediatric perianal fistulising CD (pfCD) depends upon accurate, reproducible imaging to assess disease activity and measure treatment response. We evaluated the inter- and intra-rater reliability of existing radiologic disease activity indices and anatomical classification systems previously identified as appropriate for assessment of paediatric pfCD.1 Methods A retrospective cohort (N=50) of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams representing a full spectrum of paediatric (&lt;18 years) perianal CD severity was selected by a single expert paediatric radiologist. Methods described by Zou2 were used to estimate sample size. Three separate radiologists (2 paediatric) blinded to clinical information assessed pfCD in the exams using the Magnetic Resonance Novel Index for Fistula Imaging in CD (MAGNIFI-CD), Van Assche Index (VAI), modified VAI (mVAI), Paediatric MRI based Perianal Crohn’s disease (PEMPAC) index, a visual analogue scale (VAS) of overall pfCD disease severity (range, 0-100 mm), as well as with the Park’s and St. James University Hospital anatomic classification systems. Two radiologists read all exams twice, separated by 2 weeks, and 1 radiologist read the exams once (250 total reads). Intra- and inter-rater reliability was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC; equivalent to weighted kappa). Precision of the ICC estimates was quantified with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) obtained using clustered bootstrapping. Degree of reliability was interpreted with benchmarks proposed by Landis and Koch3. Results Median age of children was 13.5 years (IQR 11.4-16.1), and 64% were male. Median Paediatric Crohn’s Disease Activity Index score at time of imaging was 17.5 (IQR 10-32.5). Substantial (ICC&gt;0.61) inter-rater reliability was observed for MAGNIFI-CD, VAI, and mVAI (Table 1), with the highest ICCs observed for the mVAI (0.72 [0.6 to 0.79]). Moderate (ICC&gt;0.41) inter-rater reliability was observed for PEMPAC, St. James University Hospital classification, and the VAS, and fair (ICC&gt;0.21) inter-rater reliability was observed for Parks classification. Intra-rater reliability was nearly perfect (ICC&gt;0.81) for the VAS, and substantial for all indices except for Parks classification, which had moderate (0.60 [0.44 to 0.75]) intra-rater reliability (Table 1). Conclusion Most existing multi-item MRI-based disease activity indices and the St. James Hospital classification were reliable for the assessment of paediatric pfCD in our cohort. Our preliminary results suggest that the disease activity indices may have utility to measure treatment effect in paediatric pfCD clinical trials. References 1.Crowley E, Ma C, Guizzetti L, Zou G, Lewindon PJ, Gee MS, et al. Recommendations for Standardizing MRI-based Evaluation of Perianal Fistulizing Disease Activity in Pediatric Crohn's Disease Clinical Trials. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2024;30(3):357-69. 2.Zou GY. Sample size formulas for estimating intraclass correlation coefficients with precision and assurance. Statistics in Medicine. 2012;31(29):3972-398 3.Landis JR, Koch GG. The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics. 1977;33(1):159-74.

Abstract Background Long-term use of corticosteroids (CS) is a concern for patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), as prolonged use is associated with increased mortality and adverse outcomes. Upadacitinib (UPA), an oral, selective, reversible Janus kinase inhibitor, is approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe CD and demonstrated CS-sparing efficacy, with a consistent safety profile through maintenance week (wk) 52.1-4 Here, we evaluated the long-term efficacy of UPA in achieving CS-free clinical and endoscopic outcomes in patients enrolled in the ongoing U-ENDURE long-term extension (LTE) study. Methods Patients who completed the U-ENDURE 52-wk maintenance study were eligible for the subsequent LTE study wherein they continued their previously assigned treatment (once daily UPA 15 mg [UPA15] or UPA 30 mg [UPA30]). Efficacy was assessed from LTE wk 0-wk48, among patients with 2 year (yr) (100 wk) of total maintenance therapy, within the overall population and in patients with baseline CS use (induction wk 0). CS-free endpoints (without CS use for ≥90 days before evaluation), included clinical remission (per stool frequency/abdominal pain score [SF/APS] and CD Activity Index [CDAI]), endoscopic response, and endoscopic remission, were evaluated using both as-observed and nonresponder imputation (NRI) methods, with NRI analysis presented in text. Safety was not evaluated here but was reported previously.3 Results Among patients with 2 yr of total maintenance therapy, 35.7% (87/244) received CS at baseline, with 13.1% (32/244) receiving CS at any time during the LTE study regardless of baseline CS use. Among patients taking baseline CS and those who received CS at any time during the LTE study (n=20), the median (range) time of CS use was 127.5 (2-1589) days. CS-free clinical remission was achieved at LTE wk 0 and wk 48 per SF/APS (overall population: UPA15, 71.7%, 58.9%; UPA30, 81.8%, 57.7%; patients with baseline CS use: UPA15, 71.8%, 53.8%; UPA30, 79.2%, 54.2%, NRI, Fig.1A-B) and CDAI criteria (overall population: UPA15, 74.8%, 60.7%; UPA30, 83.9%, 65.0%; patients with baseline CS use: UPA15, 74.4%, 56.4%; UPA30, 81.3%, 58.3%, NRI, Fig.1C-D). At LTE wk 48, a high fraction of UPA-treated patients achieved CS-free endoscopic response (overall population: UPA15, 48.6%; UPA30, 55.5%; patients with baseline CS use: UPA15, 38.5%; UPA30, 60.4%, NRI) and CS-free endoscopic remission (overall population: UPA15, 33.6%; UPA30, 46.0%; patients with baseline CS use: UPA15, 28.2%; UPA30, 54.2%, NRI, Fig.2). Conclusion Patients with moderate-to-severe CD who received long-term UPA maintenance treatment sustained high rates of CS-free clinical and endoscopic outcomes, suggesting that UPA may serve as an effective long-term CS-sparing therapy. References 1.RINVOQ [package insert], extended-release tablets, FDA Prescribing Information. AbbVie Inc; 2022. Accessed 1 June 2022.2. 2.RINVOQ [package insert], prolonged-release tablets. EMA Summary of Product Characteristics. AbbVie; 2022. Accessed 1 June 2022. 3.Loftus EV and Panes J et al. N Engl J Med 2023;388:1966-1980. J 4.M C Dubinsky, et al. JCC, 17; (Supp_1); 2023: i104–i106.

Abstract Background Tumor necrosis factor-like ligand 1A (TL1A) is upregulated in inflammatory bowel disease and believed to promote inflammation and intestinal fibrosis. RO7790121, an anti-TL1A antibody, showed promising results in the phase IIa TUSCANY trial.1 Here we report post-hoc analyses of patient-reported outcomes from the TUSCANY-2 trial. Methods This phase IIb, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, treat-through, dose-ranging study evaluated RO7790121 in patients (pts) aged 18–75 years with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) (total Mayo score [MS] ≥6, endoscopic subscore ≥2). Pts were randomized to receive subcutaneous (SC) RO7790121 50mg, 150mg, 450mg or matched placebo (PBO) monthly during the 12-week induction period, and SC RO7790121 50mg, 150mg or 450mg monthly during the 40-week treat-through maintenance period. To assess efficacy of RO7790121 in supporting pts achieving early symptomatic improvement, rectal bleeding (RB), stool frequency (SF) and partial modified MS (RB+SF) were evaluated at baseline and Weeks 2, 4, 8, 12 and 14. The exploratory endpoint of symptomatic remission, defined as a RB subscore of 0 and a SF subscore of 0 or 1, was assessed throughout induction. Safety was assessed throughout the study. Results Overall, 245 pts received ≥1 dose of RO7790121 or PBO. At Week 2, pts receiving RO7790121 were more likely to report a RB subscore of 0 (34% RO7790121; 20% PBO) and less likely to report a RB subscore of 2 or 3 (25% RO7790121; 40% PBO) (Figure). Improvements in SF increased from Week 2 and throughout induction, with ~60% of pts receiving RO7790121 reporting a SF subscore of 0 or 1 at Weeks 12 and 14, vs ~40% for PBO. Greater rates of symptomatic remission were observed in pts receiving RO7790121 vs PBO throughout induction and from Week 2 (17.5% RO7790121; 8.9% PBO) (Table). Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were reported during induction in 117/245 pts, the most common (reported in ≥5% of pts in any treatment group) were nausea, urinary tract infection and UC (highest in the 50mg arm), anemia (highest in the placebo arm) and fatigue, headache and pyrexia (highest in the 450mg arm). Serious TEAEs were reported in ten pts during induction (PBO=4; 50mg=3; 450mg=3); two were treatment related (PBO=1; 450mg=1). There were six treatment discontinuations due to TEAEs and a generally similar safety profile was observed during the maintenance period. Conclusion Greater and earlier improvements in RB and SF were observed in pts receiving RO7790121 vs PBO. These results indicate early symptom relief and a favorable safety profile for pts treated with RO7790121, supporting its further clinical development. RO7790121 is currently being evaluated in phase III studies (NCT06589986 and NCT06588855). References 1.Danese S, Klopocka M, Scherl EJ, et al. Anti-TL1A antibody PF-06480605 safety and efficacy for ulcerative colitis: A phase 2a single-arm study. Clin GastroenterolHepatol. 2021;19(11):2324-2332.e6. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2021.06.011