Impact of tanezumab on health status, non-work activities and work productivity in adults with moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis

Background To evaluate the impact of tanezumab on health status, non-work activities, and work productivity in a pooled analysis of two large phase 3 osteoarthritis (OA) studies. Methods Subcutaneous tanezumab (2.5 mg and 5 mg) was tested in double-blind, placebo-controlled, 16-week (NCT02697773) and 24-week (NCT02709486) clinical trials in patients with moderate-to-severe OA of the hip or knee. At baseline and week 16, all patients completed EQ-5D-5L and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment-OA (WPAI-OA) activity impairment item. Those currently employed also completed WPAI-OA work time missed, impairment while working, and overall work impairment items. Between-group differences in least squares (LS) mean changes from baseline at week 16 were tested using analysis of covariance. Results Of 1545 pooled patients, 576 were employed at baseline. Improvements in EQ-5D-5L index value at week 16 were significantly greater for the tanezumab 2.5-mg group (difference in LS means [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.03 [0.01, 0.05]; p = 0.0083) versus placebo. Percent improvements (95% CI) in activity impairment (− 5.92 [− 8.87, − 2.98]; p < 0.0001), impairment while working (− 7.34 [− 13.01, − 1.68]; p = 0.0112), and overall work impairment (− 7.44 [− 13.22, − 1.67]; p = 0.0116) at week 16 were significantly greater for the tanezumab 2.5-mg group versus placebo. Results for the tanezumab 5-mg group were generally comparable to the tanezumab 2.5-mg group, although, compared with placebo, percent improvement (95% CI) in work time missed was significantly greater for the tanezumab 5-mg group (− 3.40 [− 6.47, − 0.34]; p = 0.0294), but not the tanezumab 2.5-mg group (− 0.66 [− 3.63, 2.32]; p = 0.6637). Conclusions These pooled analyses showed that health status, non-work activities, and work productivity were significantly improved following tanezumab administration, compared with placebo. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02697773, NCT02709486.