Initial Impairment and Recovery of Vision-Related Functioning in Participants With Acute Optic Neuritis From the RENEW Trial of Opicinumab.

Background: Leucine-rich repeat and immunoglobulin domain-containing Nogo receptor-interacting protein 1 (LINGO-1) is a key suppressor of oligodendrocyte differentiation and axonal remyelination and regeneration. This analysis evaluated the potential benefit of opicinumab, a human monoclonal antibody against LINGO-1, vs placebo on exploratory clinical endpoints of patient-reported vision-related functioning and high-contrast visual acuity (HCVA) in RENEW participants with acute optic neuritis (AON).

Methods: Participants were randomized to 100 mg/kg opicinumab intravenous or placebo every 4 weeks (6 infusions). Assessments were conducted in the per-protocol (PP) population and included: 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25), 10-item Neuro-Ophthalmic Supplement (NOS-10), and HCVA.

Results: The opicinumab group (n = 33) had worse mean (SD) baseline patient-reported vision-related functioning scores vs placebo (n = 36): NEI-VFQ-25 composite, 75.5 (17.6) vs 79.0 (16.6); NOS-10 composite, 63.6 (19.8) vs 69.8 (21.2), respectively. By Week 24, the placebo and opicinumab groups experienced substantial mean improvements from baseline (NEI-VFQ-25 composite, 15.17 vs 13.51 [difference (95% CI): -1.66 (-5.11 to 1.78)]; NOS-10 composite, 17.40 vs 16.04 [difference (95% CI): -1.35 (-7.38 to 4.67)]). Between-treatment differences in mean change from baseline were not significantly different at any time point. Analysis of covariance-adjusted mean recovery from baseline in HCVA at Week 24 for the affected eyes was 11.8 and 8.7 letters for placebo and opicinumab, respectively (P = 0.202).

Conclusions: Most participants in the RENEW PP population demonstrated substantial recovery from baseline in patient-reported vision-related functioning and HCVA, regardless of treatment and structural damage. Average scores after recovery remained lower than those of published disease-free control groups. These results provide important information on visual function recovery in patients with AON, as measured by NEI-VFQ-25 and NOS-10.