Outcomes of COVID-19 among patients treated with subcutaneous interferon beta-1a for multiple sclerosis

Background: In accordance with expert guidance, patients have typically continued to receive treatment with subcutaneous interferon beta-1a (sc IFN beta-1a) for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We provide a summary of outcomes among sc IFN beta-1a-treated patients with adverse events related to confirmed or suspected COVID-19, as reported to the Merck Global Patient Safety Database (as of 2 February 2021). Serious COVID-19-related adverse events (as classified by the reporting clinician) included those leading to hospitalization, admission to intensive care, or death. Outcomes were classified per usual pharmacovigilance practice. Results: The evaluable cohort comprised 603 patients of median age 43 (range, 13-84) years and 75.1% were female. COVID-19 was experienced at a median of 33.0 (range, 0-321.8) months after start of treatment with sc IFN beta-1a. A total of 136 (22.6%) patients experienced serious COVID-19 events, including 59 hospitalizations (4 patients admitted to intensive care) and 5 deaths (fatality rate, 0.8%). Regarding non-fatal outcomes, 47.8% of patients (289/603) with COVID-19 adverse events were recovered or recovering at time of analysis; similar findings were apparent for the serious and hospitalized cohorts. Conclusion: Findings of this analysis from the Merck Global Patient Safety Database suggest that, compared with available statistics for the general population and those with MS, patients receiving sc IFN beta-1a for treatment of relapsing MS have relatively low rates of serious disease and/or severe outcomes with COVID-19.

Automated summary

The study found that patients treated with sc IFN beta-1a for relapsing MS had relatively low rates of COVID-19 infection, high recovery rates, and low rates of severe disease and death compared to the general population and other MS patients.