Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Chinese version of the Health Assessment Questionnaire for the Spondyloarthropathies (HAQ-S)

Evaluation of adalimumab biosimilar candidate (HS016) in Chinese patients with active ankylosing spondylitis based on a health survey: sub-analysis of a phase 3 study

Objective

The equivalence of the biosimilar HS016 to adalimumab (Humira) for the treatment of active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients has been previously validated. The aim was to compare the efficacy of HS016 and adalimumab in stratified subgroups at different time points using Health Assessment Questionnaire for Spondyloarthropathies (HAQ-S) and short form 36 (SF-36) questionnaires.

Methods

We carried out a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel, positive control, phase 3 trial of patients with active AS. They were selected randomly to be subcutaneously administered 40 mg HS016 or adalimumab every 2 weeks for a total treatment period of 24 weeks in a 2:1 ratio. A health surveys were used to assess mental and physical improvements of patients as well as other factors.

Results

HAQ-S revealed that changes in scores from baseline in both groups were time dependent until 14 weeks and that during the first 4 weeks of treatment the changes declined rapidly. The SF-36 health survey revealed that both HS016 and adalimumab produced rapid beneficial effects against AS during the first 2 weeks of therapy, which gradually declined between 2 and 12 weeks and flattened out after 12 weeks until 24 weeks.

Conclusion

This trial demonstrated that both HS016 and adalimumab produced rapid improvements in symptoms during the first 2 weeks of treatment. These findings suggest that HS016 is an alternative economical treatment for Chinese AS patients producing a rapid amelioration of symptoms, aiding them to recover their lifestyle satisfaction.

Trial registration

http://www.chictr.org.cn/enindex.aspx, ChiCTR1900022520, retrospectively registered.

Key points

• HS016 and adalimumab produced rapid AS symptom improvements during the first 2 weeks followed by a slowdown of improvements until week 4 with afterwards few improvements evaluated by HAQ-S

• The improvements according to the short form of the 36 (SF-36) questionnaires revealed similar trends as for HAQ-S

• There was no significant difference in HAQ-S and SF-36 scores between HS016 and adalimumab

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10067-021-05943-w.