Patient characteristics and use for bevacizumab in ophthalmology and oncology in a distributed research network

Although bevacizumab and its biosimilars are commonly used, there are limited real-world data on bevacizumab use in the United States, especially biosimilar bevacizumab used in ophthalmologic conditions.

To evaluate use patterns and patient characteristics for the originator bevacizumab relative to its biosimilars for labeled and off-label oncology and ophthalmology conditions and characterize adverse events in patients using bevacizumab for oncologic indications.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study with the Biologics and Biosimilars Collective Intelligence Consortium-distributed database to identify patients aged 21 years and older who received bevacizumab between January 1, 2010, and June 30, 2021. Oncology indications included colon, lung, and gynecologic (cervical, uterine, and ovarian) cancers. Ophthalmologic indications included neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinal vein occlusion (RVO), choroidal neovascularization (CNV), and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). We also captured patients' demographic and clinical characteristics.

Total bevacizumab product (originator and biosimilars) use increased over time for RVO, CNV, and PDR starting in 2015 but decreased for AMD after 2016. For ophthalmology, bevacizumab product users were primarily male (56.8%), had a mean age of 62.9 years (SD = 0.08), and had a mean Charlson/Elixhauser combined comorbidity score ranging from 0.7 (CNV) to 2.7 (PDR). Bevacizumab users for oncology indications were mostly female (61.8%), had a mean age of 62.9 years (SD = 12.2), and had a mean Charlson/Elixhauser combined comorbidity score of 7.4 (SD = 3.0). Oncologic biosimilar product use increased over time between 2019 and 2020 as follows: colon cancer, 6.2% to 49.4%; lung cancer, 1.9% to 36.2%; and gynecologic cancer, 2.4% to 38.1%.

Bevacizumab product use increased across most indications during the study period. Use for biosimilars increased in later years relative to the originator once available on the market. Limited data are available on real-world biosimilar use in the United States; future research should include monitoring for use and adverse events of these products.