Key clinical point: Ofatumumab is associated with lower annualized relapse rates than teriflunomide in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS).
Major finding: Annualized relapse rates in the ofatumumab and teriflunomide groups were 0.11 and 0.22, respectively, in ASCLEPIOS I trial (difference, −0.11; P less than .001) and 0.10 and 0.25, respectively, in ASCLEPIOS II trial (difference, −0.15; P less than .001). The percentage of patients with disability worsening at 3 months and at 6 months was higher in the teriflunomide group, whereas the percentage of patients with disability improvement at 6 months was higher in ofatumumab group.
Study details: In 2 double-blind, double-dummy, phase 3 trials (ASCLEPIOS I and II), patients with relapsing MS were randomly assigned to receive subcutaneous ofatumumab (n = 946) or oral teriflunomide (n = 936) for up to 30 months and were followed for a median of 1.6 years.
Disclosures: The study was supported by Novartis Pharma. Dr. Hauser reported ties with various pharmaceutical companies and travel grant from Novartis.
Citation: Hauser SL et al. N Engl J Med. 2020 Aug 6. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1917246 .