Purpose: This trial was conducted to investigate the clinical equivalence of the proposed biosimilar FYB201 and reference ranibizumab in patients with treatment-naive, subfoveal choroidal neovascularization caused by neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).
Design: This was a prospective, multicenter, evaluation-masked, parallel-group, 48-week, phase III randomized study.
Participants: A total of 477 patients were randomly assigned to receive FYB201 (n = 238) or reference ranibizumab (n = 239).
Methods: Patients received FYB201 or reference ranibizumab 0.5 mg by intravitreal (IVT) injection in the study eye every 4 weeks.
Main outcome measures: The primary end point was change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) by Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters at 8 weeks before the third monthly IVT injection. Biosimilarity of FYB201 to its originator was assessed via a 2-sided equivalence test, with an equivalence margin in BCVA of 3 ETDRS letters.
Results: The BCVA improved in both groups, with a mean improvement of +5.1 (FYB201) and +5.6 (reference ranibizumab) ETDRS letters at week 8. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) least squares mean difference for the change from baseline between FYB201 and reference ranibizumab was -0.4 ETDRS letters with a 90% confidence interval (CI) of -1.6 to 0.9. Primary end point was met as the 90% CI was within the predefined equivalence margin. Adverse events were comparable between treatment groups.
Conclusions: FYB201 is biosimilar to reference ranibizumab in terms of clinical efficacy and ocular and systemic safety in the treatment of patients with nAMD.
Keywords: Biosimilar; FYB201; Lucentis; Neovascular age-related macular degeneration; Ranibizumab.
Copyright © 2021 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.