Risankizumab Induction Therapy Achieves Early Symptom Improvements That Are Associated With Future Clinical and Endoscopic Outcomes in Crohn's Disease: Post Hoc Analysis of the ADVANCE, MOTIVATE, and FORTIFY Phase 3 Studies.

Background And Aims: Crohn's disease [CD] symptoms are a main driver for impaired quality of life, and fast relief is important for patient care. Stool frequency [SF] and abdominal pain score [APS] are patient-reported outcomes [PROs] measuring symptom severity, which are supported as treatment targets by the STRIDE-II consensus. This post hoc analysis examined the efficacy of risankizumab [RZB], a humanised monoclonal antibody with high specificity for interleukin-23 p19, for providing early symptom relief, along with the prognostic value of early symptom relief for achieving future clinical and endoscopic endpoints.

Methods: Individual and combined measures of SF and AP at Weeks 1, 2, and 3 were assessed in patients with moderate to severe CD who received 600 mg intravenous RZB or placebo [PBO] in the ADVANCE or MOTIVATE induction studies. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the predictiveness of early symptom improvement for clinical and endoscopic outcomes following RZB induction and maintenance.

Results: Higher rates of SF/APS clinical remission and enhanced clinical response were observed as early as Week 1 with RZB vs PBO. A larger proportion of patients achieved clinical endpoints with RZB vs PBO, irrespective of prior bio-failure status. Early PRO improvement was associated with a greater likelihood of achieving clinical and endoscopic improvement following 12-week induction and 52-week maintenance RZB dosing.

Conclusions: After the first intravenous RZB induction dose, significantly greater rates of symptom improvement vs PBO were achieved. Improvements could be observed as early as Week 1 and were predictive of Weeks 12 and 52 clinical and endoscopic improvement.