Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of Aflibercept Biosimilar (P041) Compared with Originator Product in Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Abstract

Objective: To assess the noninferiority of biosimilar aflibercept (P041, CinnaGen) to the originator aflibercept (AFL, Regeneron) in terms of efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity.

Design: This was a phase Ш, 52-week, multicenter, randomized, double-masked, and active control trial involving eyes in a 1:1 ratio.

Subjects: Patients with active subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to age-related macular degeneration randomized into the 2 groups of P041 and AFL.

Methods: Patients received an injection of aflibercept every 4 weeks for 3 doses, followed by administration every 8 weeks up to week 48.

Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was the noninferiority analysis of eyes maintaining vision at week 52. Secondary outcomes included the changes in visual acuity and retinal thickness, safety evaluation, and immunogenicity during the study.

Results: In total, 168 eyes of 168 patients were included. At week 52, the proportion of patients maintaining vision was 94.44% in the P041 group compared with 94.52% in the AFL group. The 95% confidence interval (CI) for the difference of maintaining vision from baseline did not exceed the predefined noninferiority margin of 10% (difference, -0.0008; 95% CI, -0.074 to 0.074; P = 0.98). Secondary outcomes indicated similar results in both arms (all P > 0.05). Safety measured outcomes and immunogenicity were similar between the 2 study groups.

Conclusions: Biosimilar aflibercept was noninferior to AFL in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Other efficacy and safety findings also indicated the similarity of 2 products.

Financial disclosures: Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Keywords: Aflibercept; Age-related macular degeneration; Biosimilar; Choroidal neovascularization; VEGF-Trap.