Subcutaneous Tanezumab Relieves Pain, Improves Function in Patients With Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis

This is for our readers who treat chronic pain patients.

Subcutaneous tanezumab provides significant pain relief and improved function, compared with placebo, in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis (OA), according to a study presented here at the 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ACR/ARHP).

Patients in the study who received tanezumab experienced statistically significant improvements in Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) for pain and physical function, and in the Patient’s Global Assessment of OA (PGA-OA).

Tanezumab is a humanised mAb that blocks nerve growth factor and is in clinical development for the treatment of chronic pain.

The study randomised patients with OA who had not responded to or could not tolerate standard pain treatments to receive placebo (n = 232), tanezumab 2.5 mg (n = 231) or tanezumab 2.5/5 mg (n = 233) for 16 weeks. Patients in the last group received tanezumab 2.5 mg for 8 weeks and then received 5 mg for the remainder of the study.

“Increasing the dose to 5 mg at week 8 was associated with modest additional benefit versus continuation on tanezumab 2.5 mg,” noted Thomas J. Schnitzer, MD, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues.

The mean change from baseline for WOMAN pain scores was -2.64 for the placebo group, -3.23 for the tanezumab 2.5 mg group (P = .0129), and 3.37 for the tanezumab 2.5/5 mg group (P = .0023).

The mean change from baseline in WOMAC physical function scores was -2.56, -3.22, and -3.45, respectively (P = .0065 and P = .0002 for tanezumab 2.5 and 2.5/5 mg groups, respectively).

Finally, the mean change from baseline for PGA-OA was -0.65 for the placebo group, -0.87 for the tanezumab 2.5 mg group, and -0.90 for the tanezumab 2.5/5 mg group.

The most common adverse events (AEs) were nasopharyngitis, pain in extremity, and paraesthesia. The incidence of serious AEs or withdrawals due to AEs was similar between treatment groups. Adjudicated rapidly progressive OA occurred in 1.3% of tanezumab-treated patients.

“This study demonstrates that subcutaneous tanezumab may be an effective option for patients who have demonstrated intolerance or incomplete response to standard treatments for OA,” the authors concluded.