A randomized trial showed that rituximab was noninferior to ocrelizumab in preventing new MRI lesions over 2 years in people with newly diagnosed relapsing MS.Relapse rates, disability progression, and cognitive outcomes were similar in each group.Rituximab led to more infections, mostly mild upper respiratory tract infections.
Off-label rituximab was noninferior to ocrelizumab (Ocrevus) in people with newly diagnosed relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) and recent disease activity, the phase III OVERLORD-MS trial showed.
At 2 years, the estimated probability of having no new or enlarging lesions on T2-weighted MRI was 92.2% with rituximab and 94.8% with ocrelizumab, reported Øivind Torkildsen, MD, PhD, of the University of Bergen in Norway, and co-authors.
The risk difference (-2.6 percentage points, 95% CI -9.4 to 4.3) met the prespecified noninferiority criterion for the 218-person study, the researchers wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Annualized relapse rates were low in both study groups -- 0.09 for rituximab and 0.04 for ocrelizumab. Additionally, disability outcomes and cognitive performance profiles appeared similar between the two groups, Torkildsen and colleagues said.
