OBJECTIVES : Tanezumab is being investigated for the treatment of moderate-to-severe symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA). This pooled analysis of two phase 3 studies evaluated the impact of tanezumab at week 16 on health status, assessed by the EuroQol 5 Dimension 5 level (EQ-5D-5L), and daily activity and work productivity, assessed by the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire.

METHODS : Subcutaneous tanezumab (2.5 mg and 5 mg) was tested in double-blind, placebo-controlled, 16-week (NCT02697773) and 24-week (NCT02709486) studies in patients with moderate-to-severe OA of the hip or knee. At baseline and week 16, in both studies, patients completed EQ-5D-5L and the WPAI activity impairment item. Those currently employed also completed WPAI work time missed, impairment while working and overall work impairment items.

RESULTS : The pooled population included 1,545 patients, of whom 576 were employed at baseline. Improvements in EQ-5D-5L utility score at week 16 were significantly greater for the tanezumab 2.5 mg group (difference in least squares means [95% confidence interval], 0.03 [0.01, 0.05], P=0.0083) compared with placebo. Improvements in percent activity impairment (–5.92 [–8.87, –2.98], P<0.0001), percent impairment while working (–7.34 [–13.01, –1.68], P=0.0112) and percent 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 compared with placebo. Results for the tanezumab 5 mg group were generally comparable to the tanezumab 2.5 mg group, although compared with placebo, improvement in percent 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 : This pooled analysis showed that health status, daily activity and work productivity were significantly improved at week 16 following subcutaneous tanezumab administration in patients with moderate-to-severe OA. Funded by Pfizer and Lilly.