Takeda presents vedolizumab phase 3 VISIBLE 1 trial results for treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited today announced results from the phase 3 VISIBLE 1 clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of an investigational subcutaneous (SC) formulation of the gut-selective biologic vedolizumab for maintenance therapy in adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) who achieved clinical response at week 6 following two doses of open-label vedolizumab intravenous (IV) induction therapy. At week 52, a statistically significant proportion of patients receiving vedolizumab SC achieved clinical remission compared to patients receiving placebo (46.2% vs. 14.3%; p<0.001). A similar rate of clinical remission was observed in the vedolizumab IV reference arm (42.6%). These results were presented at the 2018 United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Week congress in Vienna, Austria.

"The VISIBLE 1 results highlight that the investigational subcutaneous formulation of vedolizumab helped patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis achieve and maintain clinical remission, mucosal healing and durable clinical response, after responding to vedolizumab IV induction therapy. These data indicate that the subcutaneous formulation of vedolizumab had an efficacy and safety profile similar to the IV reference arm, and further add to the collective dataset for vedolizumab in ulcerative colitis," said Professor William J. Sandborn, lead investigator for the VISIBLE 1 trial and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at UC San Diego.

Furthermore, vedolizumab SC was statistically superior to placebo in key secondary endpoints of mucosal healing (56.6% vs. 21.4%; p<0.001) and durable clinical response (64.2% vs. 28.6%; p<0.001). Vedolizumab SC was also numerically higher to placebo in achieving durable clinical remission^ǂǂ (15.1% vs. 5.4%; p=0.076) and corticosteroid-free clinical remission (28.9% vs. 8.3%; p=0.067), with these results not being of statistical significance. Similar findings were observed for these endpoints in the vedolizumab IV reference arm. Additionally, a subgroup analysis showed clinical remission rates were significantly higher with vedolizumab SC compared to placebo in anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα)-naïve (53.7% vs. 18.9%; p<0.001) and anti-TNFα-failure patients (33.3% vs. 5.3%; p=0.023).

Adverse event rates, including severe adverse events and infections, were similar in the vedolizumab SC and IV groups. Injection-site reactions were mild and experienced by 9.4% of patients in the vedolizumab SC treatment group (vs. 0 in the placebo group), with none leading to treatment discontinuation. The rate of anti-vedolizumab antibodies (AVAs) was similar between the vedolizumab SC and IV groups (5.7% and 5.6%, respectively).

"These results mark an important milestone for Takeda in our efforts to better meet the needs of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. We hope to make the subcutaneous formulation of vedolizumab available to provide more choice for patients and their physicians. The patient's experience is very important to us, and we are committed to providing physicians with treatment options that suit the individual needs and preferences of their patients, whether that is intravenous or subcutaneous," said Jeff Bornstein, Executive Medical Director, Takeda.

VISIBLE 1 is a pivotal phase 3, randomized, double-dummy, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, with a vedolizumab IV reference arm, to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an investigational SC formulation of vedolizumab as maintenance therapy in adult patients with moderately to severely active UC who have achieved clinical response at week 6 following two doses of open-label vedolizumab IV therapy at weeks 0 and 2. The study enrolled 383 patients, all of whom had inadequate response with, loss of response to, or intolerance to corticosteroids, immunomodulators, or anti-TNFα therapy prior to being enrolled. Patients who achieved clinical response at week 6 (n=216, 56.4%) were randomized into one of three treatment groups, vedolizumab SC 108 mg and placebo IV (n=106), vedolizumab IV 300 mg and placebo SC (n=54), or placebo SC and placebo IV (n=56). Subcutaneous doses were administered every two weeks and intravenous doses were administered every eight weeks.