Systematic review with meta-analysis: real-world effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Background: Selective patient recruitment can produce discrepancies between clinical trial results and real-world effectiveness. Methods: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis were conducted to assess vedolizumab real-world effectiveness and safety in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD). MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched for real-world studies of vedolizumab in adult patients with UC/CD reporting clinical response, remission, corticosteroid-free remission, UC/CD-related surgery or hospitalization, mucosal healing, or safety published from May 1, 2014–June 22, 2017. Response and remission rates were combined in random-effects meta-analyses. Results: At treatment week 14, 32% of UC patients [95% confidence interval (CI) 27–39%] and 30% of CD patients (95% CI 25–34%) were in remission; and at month 12, 46% for UC (95% CI 37–56%) and 30% for CD (95% CI 20–42%). For UC, the rates of corticosteroid-free remission were 26% at week 14 (95% CI 20–34%) and 42% at month 12 (95% CI 31–53%); for CD they were 25% at week 14 (95%, CI 20–31%) and 31% at month 12 (95%, CI 20–45%). At month 12, 33–77% of UC and 6–63% of CD patients had mucosal healing. Nine percent of patients reported serious adverse events. Conclusions: Vedolizumab demonstrated real-world effectiveness in patients with moderate-to-severely active UC or CD, with approximately one-half and one-third of patients, respectively, in remission at treatment month 12. These findings are consistent with clinical trial data and support the long-term benefit–risk profile of vedolizumab.