Vedolizumab Clearance as a Surrogate Marker for Remission in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients: Insights from Real-World Pharmacokinetics

PMID: 39771608
Source: Pharmaceutics
Publication date: 2025-01-08
Year: 2024

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Vedolizumab (VDZ) is approved in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD). VDZ exhibits considerable variability in its pharmacokinetic (PK) profile, and its exposure-response relationship is not yet fully understood. The aim was to investigate the variability in VDZ trough levels and PK parameters, to assess the relationship between VDZ PK and biochemical response, as well as clinical and endoscopic outcomes. Methods: We included 61 UC and 45 CD patients. Patients' data and trough VDZ concentrations were retrospectively obtained. Population PK analysis was performed using non-linear mixed-effects modelling with NONMEM (version 7.5). Graphs and statistical analyses were performed using R (version 4.1.3). Results: In total, 116 trough VDZ concentrations from 106 patients were described by a two-compartment model. For a typical patient, clearance (CL) was estimated at 0.159 L/day, while in patients previously treated with anti-TNFalpha agents, VDZ CL increased by 26.4% on average. In univariate binary logistic regression, VDZ trough concentration was not statistically significant predictor of remission, whereas CL was. Moreover, combined CL and faecal calprotectin (FCP) were a statistically significant predictors of remission. The hazard ratio (HR) for CL above 0.1886 L/day was 0.35 (p = 0.05) and for FCP below 250 microg/g was 2.66 (p = 0.02) in a time-to-event analysis. Conclusions: Our population PK model incorporates the effect of prior anti-TNFalpha agents on CL, suggesting its association with more severe forms of IBD. VDZ CL emerged as a more robust and clinically relevant predictor of remission in IBD patients than trough concentration.