Tanuja Chitnis1, Douglas L Arnold1, Brenda Banwell1, Wolfgang Brück1, Angelo Ghezzi1, Gavin Giovannoni1, Benjamin Greenberg1, Lauren Krupp1, Kevin Rostásy1, Marc Tardieu1, Emmanuelle Waubant1, Jerry S Wolinsky1, Amit Bar-Or1, Tracy Stites1, Yu Chen1, Norman Putzki1, Martin Merschhemke1, Jutta Gärtner1. 1. From the Partners Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (T.C.); Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, and NeuroRx Research - both in Montreal (D.L.A.); Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (B.B.) and the Center for Neuroinflammation and Experimental Neurotherapeutics and the Department of Neurology (A.B.-O.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania - all in Philadelphia; the Department of Neuropathology (W.B.) and the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, German Center for Multiple Sclerosis in Childhood and Adolescence (J.G.), University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, and the Division of Pediatric Neurology, Children's Hospital Datteln, Witten/Herdecke University, Datteln (K.R.) - all in Germany; Gallarate Hospital, Gallarate, Italy (A.G.); Blizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London (G.G.); the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Children's Health, Dallas (B.G.), and McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston (J.S.W.) - both in Texas; Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center at NYU Langone, New York (L.K.); Hôpitaux Universitaires Paris-Sud, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris (M.T.); the Department of Neurology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco (E.W.); Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ (T.S., Y.C., N.P.); and Novartis Pharma, Basel, Switzerland (M.M.).
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Treatment of patients younger than 18 years of age with multiple sclerosis has not been adequately examined in randomized trials. We compared fingolimod with interferon beta-1a in this population. METHODS: In this phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned patients 10 to 17 years of age with relapsing multiple sclerosis in a 1:1 ratio to receiveoral fingolimod at a dose of 0.5 mg per day (0.25 mg per day for patients with a body weight of ≤40 kg) or intramuscular interferon beta-1a at a dose of 30 μg per week for up to 2 years. The primary end point was the annualized relapse rate. RESULTS:Of a total of 215 patients, 107 were assigned to fingolimod and 108 to interferon beta-1a. The mean age of the patients was 15.3 years. Among all patients, there was a mean of 2.4 relapses during the preceding 2 years. The adjusted annualized relapse rate was 0.12 with fingolimod and 0.67 with interferon beta-1a (absolute difference, 0.55 relapses; relative difference, 82%; P<0.001). The key secondary end point of the annualized rate of new or newly enlarged lesions on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was 4.39 with fingolimod and 9.27 with interferon beta-1a (absolute difference, 4.88 lesions; relative difference, 53%; P<0.001). Adverse events, excluding relapses of multiple sclerosis, occurred in 88.8% of patients who received fingolimod and 95.3% of those who received interferon beta-1a. Serious adverse events occurred in 18 patients (16.8%) in the fingolimod group and included seizures (in 4 patients), infection (in 4 patients), and leukopenia (in 2 patients). Serious adverse events occurred in 7 patients (6.5%) in the interferon beta-1a group and included infection (in 2 patients) and supraventricular tachycardia (in 1 patient). CONCLUSIONS: Among pediatric patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, fingolimod was associated with a lower rate of relapse and less accumulation of lesions on MRI over a 2-year period than interferon beta-1a but was associated with a higher rate of serious adverse events. Longer studies are required to determine the durability and safety of fingolimod in pediatric multiple sclerosis. (Funded by Novartis Pharma; PARADIGMS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01892722 .).
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Treatment of patients younger than 18 years of age with multiple sclerosis has not been adequately examined in randomized trials. We compared fingolimod with interferon beta-1a in this population. METHODS: In this phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned patients 10 to 17 years of age with relapsing multiple sclerosis in a 1:1 ratio to receive oral fingolimod at a dose of 0.5 mg per day (0.25 mg per day for patients with a body weight of ≤40 kg) or intramuscular interferon beta-1a at a dose of 30 μg per week for up to 2 years. The primary end point was the annualized relapse rate. RESULTS: Of a total of 215 patients, 107 were assigned to fingolimod and 108 to interferon beta-1a. The mean age of the patients was 15.3 years. Among all patients, there was a mean of 2.4 relapses during the preceding 2 years. The adjusted annualized relapse rate was 0.12 with fingolimod and 0.67 with interferon beta-1a (absolute difference, 0.55 relapses; relative difference, 82%; P<0.001). The key secondary end point of the annualized rate of new or newly enlarged lesions on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was 4.39 with fingolimod and 9.27 with interferon beta-1a (absolute difference, 4.88 lesions; relative difference, 53%; P<0.001). Adverse events, excluding relapses of multiple sclerosis, occurred in 88.8% of patients who received fingolimod and 95.3% of those who received interferon beta-1a. Serious adverse events occurred in 18 patients (16.8%) in the fingolimod group and included seizures (in 4 patients), infection (in 4 patients), and leukopenia (in 2 patients). Serious adverse events occurred in 7 patients (6.5%) in the interferon beta-1a group and included infection (in 2 patients) and supraventricular tachycardia (in 1 patient). CONCLUSIONS: Among pediatric patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, fingolimod was associated with a lower rate of relapse and less accumulation of lesions on MRI over a 2-year period than interferon beta-1a but was associated with a higher rate of serious adverse events. Longer studies are required to determine the durability and safety of fingolimod in pediatric multiple sclerosis. (Funded by Novartis Pharma; PARADIGMS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01892722 .).
Authors: Jonathan D Santoro; Michael Waltz; Greg Aaen; Anita Belman; Leslie Benson; Mark Gorman; Manu S Goyal; Jennifer S Graves; Yolanda Harris; Lauren Krupp; Timothy Lotze; Soe Mar; Manikum Moodley; Jayne Ness; Mary Rensel; Moses Rodriguez; Teri Schreiner; Jan-Mendelt Tillema; Emmanuelle Waubant; Bianca Weinstock-Guttman; Brigitte F Hurtubise; Shelly Roalstad; John Rose; T Charles Casper; Tanuja Chitnis Journal: Neurology Date: 2020-07-20 Impact factor: 9.910