Plain language summary of the VOLTAIRE-CD study in people with moderate-to-severe active Crohn's disease

WHAT IS THIS SUMMARY ABOUT?

This is a summary of the VOLTAIRE-CD study originally published in The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology. BI 695501 is a medicine being developed to treat people with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory condition that usually affects the small bowel and colon. BI 695501 is a biosimilar, which means that it is designed to be highly similar to the original drug. The VOLTAIRE-CD study aimed to show whether BI 695501 is just as effective and safe as the original drug, adalimumab (Humira^®) in treating Crohn's disease.

WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?

Participants in the VOLTAIRE-CD study took either the original adalimumab product for 24 weeks followed by BI 695501 for the next 22 weeks, or just the biosimilar BI 695501 for the entire 46-week treatment period. Similar improvements in Crohn's disease symptoms and the number of participants with side effects were similar, regardless of whether they received the original drug or BI 695501.

WHAT DO THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY MEAN?

These results show that both drugs could be used in the treatment of people with Crohn's disease, with similar efficacy and safety.

Plain language summary of the VOLTAIRE-RA in patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis

WHAT IS THIS SUMMARY ABOUT?

Here, we summarize the results from the VOLTAIRE-RA study, originally published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. The VOLTAIRE-RA study looked at how effective and safe BI 695501 is in treating people with rheumatoid arthritis (also known as RA). BI 695501 is a biosimilar whose reference product is adalimumab (known by the brand name Humira). A biosimilar is one that is made to be very similar to, and less expensive than the original biologic, also known as the reference product. The VOLTAIRE-RA study aimed to show that BI 695501 is as effective and safe as Humira in treating people with moderate-to-severe RA.

WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?

Participants of the VOLTAIRE-RA study took either Humira for 24 weeks and then switched to taking BI 695501 for a further 24 weeks, or BI 695501 for 48 weeks. The participants treated with BI 695501 and Humira had very similar outcomes in terms of reducing symptoms, as well as experiencing side effects. This was also seen for those participants who switched from taking Humira to BI 695501.

WHAT DO THE RESULTS MEAN?

These results show that both Humira and BI 695501 could be used to treat people with RA as very similar treatment outcomes could be expected. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT02137226 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

Future Cardiology Editor Foreword

A warm welcome to the September issue of Future Cardiology to all our readers and contributors. I'd like to start by thanking our esteemed Editorial Board, peer reviewers, authors and readers, we are very grateful for your support and contributions. In this editor's foreword, we will present some highlights from the year so far and look forward to the rest of the year ahead.