Comparative Effectiveness of Upadacitinib and Tofacitinib in Ulcerative Colitis: A US Propensity-Matched Cohort Study

There are limited real-world data comparing the effectiveness of upadacitinib and tofacitinib in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC).

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using TriNetX, a multi-institutional database, to compare the effectiveness of upadacitinib and tofacitinib in patients with UC. The primary aim was to assess the risk of a composite outcome of hospitalization requiring intravenous steroids and/or colectomy within 6 and 12 months. One-to-one propensity score matching was performed for demographics, comorbid conditions, mean hemoglobin, C-reactive protein, albumin, and calprotectin, and prior UC medications including recent oral or intravenous steroid use between the cohorts. Risk was expressed as adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

There were 526 patients in the upadacitinib cohort (mean age 40.4 ± 16.3, 44.8% female sex, 76.6% White race) and 1,149 patients in the tofacitinib cohort (mean age 42 ± 17.1, 41.9% female sex, 76% White race). After propensity score matching, there was no significant difference in the risk of the composite outcome of need for intravenous steroids and/or colectomy within 6 months (aOR 0.75, 95% CI 0.49-1.09). However, there was a lower risk of the composite outcome (aOR 0.63, 95% CI 0.44-0.89) in the upadacitinib cohort compared with the tofacitinib cohort within 12 months. There was no difference in the risk of intravenous steroid use (aOR 0.70, 95% CI 0.48-1.02) but lower risk of colectomy (aOR 0.46, 95% CI 0.27-0.79). In sensitivity analysis, there was also a lower risk of the composite outcome (aOR 0.64, 95% CI 0.44-0.94), including lower risk of intravenous steroid use (aOR 0.67, 95% CI 0.45-0.99) and colectomy (aOR 0.49, 95% CI 0.26-0.92) in the upadacitinib cohort compared with the tofacitinib cohort within 12 months.

This study utilizing real-world data showed that upadacitinib was associated with improved disease-specific outcomes at 12 months compared with tofacitinib in patients with UC.