Introduction

Bowel urgency (BU) is a bothersome symptom experienced by patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and is associated with high clinical and quality-of-life burdens. Mirikizumab (MIRI), an anti-IL-23 antibody approved for the treatment of moderately-to-severely active UC, significantly reduced BU severity compared with placebo (PBO), and these improvements were associated with better clinical outcomes.¹ We evaluated the association between incremental improvement in BU severity at Week (W)12 and W52 with other patient-reported outcomes for MIRI-treated patients.

Aims & Methods

In LUCENT-1 (induction), patients were randomized 3:1 to intravenous MIRI 300 mg or PBO every 4 weeks (Q4W) for 12W. MIRI responders during induction were re-randomized 2:1 to subcutaneous MIRI 200 mg or PBO Q4W for 40W in LUCENT-2 (52W of continuous treatment). BU severity was measured using the Urgency Numeric Rating Scale ([UNRS] 0–10). Incremental improvement of BU severity was assessed as reduction of each single point of UNRS score from baseline (BL). The reduction of >7 points was pooled into one category due to sample size. The accumulative benefit of reducing 1 additional point of UNRS score was evaluated at W12 and W52 and was assessed for its association with mean percent improvement in inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire (IBDQ) total score, fatigue NRS, short-form (SF)-36 mental component score (MCS) and physical component score (PCS), and work productivity activity impairment (WPAI) productivity loss.

Results

Significantly greater proportions of patients receiving MIRI achieved UNRS score reduction at certain points versus PBO at W12 and W52. The reduction of each single point of UNRS score was associated with improvement in patient’s physical and mental health, fatigue, work productivity, and quality of life. At W12, fatigue and IBDQ showed greater percent improvements among all the PRO outcomes studied for each 1-point reduction of UNRS. Similar results were observed at W52 (Table 1).

Week 12 (N=868)	UNRS reduction	Fatigue NRS	IBDQ Total Score	MCS	PCS	WPAIa	Week 52 (N=365)	UNRS reduction	Fatigue NRS	IBDQ Total Score	MCS	PCS	WPAIb
	≤0	-11.9	16.0	6.6	9.4	4.9		≤0	8.9	35.9	18.5	21.2	23.9
	1	15.4	25.9	14.6	11.3	16.9		1	5.8	30.6	13.4	12.7	11.2
	2	28.7	31.1	13.7	14.0	20.1		2	32.4	37.5	18.8	18.6	30.1
	3	43.5	35.8	17.9	16.9	24.1		3	59.5	33.9	10.8	20.4	27.5
	4	49.8	49.1	19.7	23.5	24.2		4	62.4	55.6	17.9	33.7	42.1
	5	54.5	43.3	13.1	22.9	28.8		5	52.2	54.0	21.7	27.7	38.2
	6	59.3	55.2	22.1	24.0	36.4		6	68.9	63.0	26.0	26.5	41.9
	7	81.2	64.6	25.9	30.1	29.8		7	83.8	67.3	30.1	30.1	50.6
	>7	73.6	75.4	29.7	39.1	38.5		>7	88.1	87.6	35.0	45.4	54.8

^a Note: N=532, population was restricted to patients with baseline employment status = Yes.
^b Note: N=224, population was restricted to patients with baseline employment status = Yes.
Abbreviations: IBDQ = inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire; MCS = short-form-36 mental component score; N = number of patients in the analysis population; n = number of patients in the specified category; NRS= numeric rating scale; PBO = placebo; PCS = short-form-36 physical component score; UNRS = urgency numeric rating scale; WPAI= work productivity activity impairment productivity loss.
UNRS score was averaged from daily diary entries for a 7-day period. Data were considered as missing for that week if less than 4 days were available.

Conclusion

Incremental improvement in bowel urgency corresponded to improvements in outcomes important to patients, underscoring the importance of managing BU symptoms in improving the quality of life for patients with UC.

References

1. Dubinsky MC, et al. Crohns Colitis 360 2023;5(1):otac044.

Disclosure

MD reports consultancy fees from AbbVie, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Eli Lilly and Company, Gilead Sciences, Janssen, Pfizer, Takeda, and UCB.
ST reports grants and/or research support from AbbVie, Buhlmann Diagnostics, Celgene, Eli Lilly and Company, the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Janssen, the Norman Collisson Foundation, Takeda, UCB, and Vifor Pharma; consulting fees from Abacus Pharmaceuticals, AbbVie, Actial, ai4gi, Alcimed, Allergan, Amgen, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Asahi Kasei Pharma, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Atlantic Pharmaceuticals, Barco, Biocare Pharma, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Buhlmann Diagnostics, Calcico, Celgene, Cellerix, Celsius Healthcare, Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, ChemoCentryx, Cisbio, Coronado Biosciences, Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, Ducentis BioTherapeutics, Dynavax, Elan Corporation, Eli Lilly and Company, Enterome, Falk Foundation, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, FPRT Bio, Giuliani, Genentech, Genzyme, GlaxoSmithKline, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Grünenthal, GW Pharmaceuticals, Immunocore, Immunometabolism, Indigo Biosciences, Janssen, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Medarex, Merck, MSD, Neovacs, Netbiotix, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, NPS Pharma, Ocera Therapeutics, Otsuka, Palau Pharma, Pentax Medical, Pfizer, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Pronota, Proximagen, Ptima Pharma, Receptos, Resolute, Robarts Pharmaceutical, Roche, Sandoz, Santarus, Sensyne Health, Shire, Sigmoid Pharma, SynDermix, Synthon, Takeda, Theravance Biopharma, TiGenix, Tillotts Pharma, TopiVert, TxCell, UCB, Vertex, VHsquared, Vifor Pharma, Warner Chilcott, and Zeria Pharmaceutical; and speaker fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Falk Foundation, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Shire, Takeda, and Zeria Pharmaceutical.
TK has served as a speaker, a consultant or an advisory board member for AbbVie, Ajinomoto Pharma, Asahi Kasei Medical, Astellas, Alfresa Pharma, Celltrion, Covidien, EA Pharma, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences, Janssen, JIMRO, Kyorin Pharmaceutical, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Mochida Pharmaceutical, Nippon Kayaku, Pfizer, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Thermo Scientific, Zeria Pharmaceutical, and received research funding from AbbVie, Alfresa Pharma, Asahi Kasei Medical, EA Pharma, Kyorin Pharmaceutical, Mochida Pharmaceutical, Nippon Kayaku, Otsuka Holdings, Sekisui Medical, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Zeria Pharmaceutical.
BA-B has served on advisory board for Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer; and reports speaker fees from AbbVie, Takeda, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
JW, BZ, HQ, CM, SF are employees and minor shareholders of Eli Lilly and Company.
DR reports grant support from Takeda and has served as a consultant for AbbVie, AltruBio, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, Iterative Scopes, Janssen, Pfizer, Prometheus Biosciences, Roche, Takeda, and Techlab.