A non-interventional, post-marketing surveillance study evaluating the safety and effectiveness of biosimilar rituximab (CT-P10) during routine clinical practice in the Republic of Korea

BackgroundCT-P10 was the first licensed rituximab biosimilar. This Korean post-marketing surveillance study evaluated CT-P10 safety and effectiveness in approved indications.Research design and methodsThis prospective, open-label, observational, phase 4 study collected routine clinical practice data across 27 centers in the Republic of Korea. Patients received their first CT-P10 treatment, per prescribing information, for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) during the surveillance period (16 November 2016-15 November 2020). Safety (including adverse events [AEs] and adverse drug reactions [ADRs]) and disease-specific clinical response (by best overall response [NHL/CLL], Disease Activity Score in 28-joints [RA], or Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score for Wegener's Granulomatosis [GPA/MPA]) were assessed for <= 1 year (NHL/CLL) or <= 24 weeks (RA/GPA/MPA).ResultsThe safety population comprised 677 patients (604 NHL, 16 CLL, 42 RA, 7 GPA, 8 MPA). AEs/ADRs were reported for 68.4%/27.7% (NHL/CLL), 31.0%/14.3% (RA), and 86.7%/13.3% (GPA/MPA) of patients. Serious AEs and unexpected ADRs did not raise new safety signals. Pneumonia was the most frequent serious ADR overall. Positive effectiveness outcomes were observed.ConclusionsFindings were consistent with the known CT-P10/reference rituximab safety profile, with high effectiveness observed in NHL/CLL and RA.