Biogen Inc. announced new data from its portfolio of multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies being presented at the 38th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) meeting October 26-28, 2022. The presentations include the final safety and efficacy results of the VUMERITY® (diroximel fumarate) EVOLVE-MS-1 study, as well as a matching analysis comparing treatment with VUMERITY to Ponvory® (ponesimod) and Aubagio® (teriflunomide); patient-reported outcomes and an analysis of the proprietary StratifyJCV™ assay for TYSABRI® (natalizumab); a study evaluating treatment with TECFIDERA® (dimethyl fumarate) to prevent first clinical manifestation of MS for people with radiologically isolated syndrome; and studies assessing the impact of PLEGRIDY® (peginterferon beta-1a) and AVONEX® (interferon beta-1a) on pregnancy, breastfeeding and child development. Final Safety and Efficacy Results of VUMERITY EVOLVE-MS-1 Study Reported: Presentations including data from EVOLVE-MS-1 and OPTIMUM clinical studies further support the safety and efficacy of VUMERITY: Final safety and efficacy results from EVOLVE-MS-1 demonstrate decreases in disease activity and favorable tolerability for VUMERITY in 1,057 patients over 96 weeks, in line with previous assessments.

The reduction in annualized relapse rate (ARR) was 81.6%, the estimated proportion of patients who were relapse-free was 82.4%, and the estimated proportion with no evidence of disease activity (NEDA-3) was 41.1%. While 24.3% of patients discontinued treatment, discontinuation due to gastrointestinal adverse events (0.7%) and flushing (0.5%) were low; A matching-adjusted indirect comparison was done between VUMERITY (EVOLVE-MS-1) and Ponvory and Aubagio (OPTIMUM) clinical studies for ARR, 12-week confirmed disability progression (CDP), 24-week CDP, absence of gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) T1 lesions and absence of new/enlarging T2 lesions. After weighting for cross-trial differences, VUMERITY was associated with a higher proportion of patients free of Gd+ T1 lesions and new/enlarging T2 lesions at the end of follow-up compared to Ponvory, with similar efficacy for ARR and 12- and 24-week CDP.

VUMERITY had greater efficacy than Aubagio for all clinical and radiological outcome measures, except for 24-week CDP, in which there was similar efficacy. Studies Highlight Patient-Reported Outcomes for TYSABRI; Analysis Shows Impact of StratifyJCV Assay: Two presentations highlight improvements in patient-reported outcomes following treatment with TYSABRI along with preference and satisfaction for the TYSABRI subcutaneous (SC) route of administration: The results of recent survey analysis, which included TYSABRI [n=52] and Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)-treated [n=92] relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients aged 21 and older who had taken at least one prior disease modifying treatment (DMT), found more patients treated with TYSABRI versus Ocrevus reported improvements in disease activity (84.6% vs 59.8%), emotional symptoms (73.1% vs 35.9%), physical symptoms (69.2% vs 43.5%), cognitive symptoms (61.5% vs 32.6%) and social roles/activities (71.2% vs 35.9%). In addition, more patients treated with TYSABRI reported their DMT met or exceeded treatment expectations in comparison to those treated with Ocrevus (96.2% vs 72.8%); In the first interim analysis of 206 patients in the observational, prospective, multi-center SISTER study in Germany, the TYSABRI SC route of administration was preferred by individuals (89.6%; 163 patients) compared with intravenous administration; nearly all patients receiving SC treatment expressed satisfaction with their choice (98.7%; 156 patients) and the most frequent reasons for SC preference were shorter and more convenient administration.

The TYSABRI SC administration is available in 26 countries and over 16,000 patients have been treated with SC therapy.