Denosumab biosimilar in postmenopausal osteoporotic women: A randomized, assessor-blind, active-controlled clinical trial

OBJECTIVE: The study assessed the efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetic (PK), and immunogenicity profiles of denosumab-biosimilar and denosumab-reference in postmenopausal osteoporotic women from India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this randomized, assessor-blind, active-control, multicenter trial, 114 patients were randomly allocated to receive denosumab-biosimilar (n = 58) or denosumab-reference (n = 56) at a subcutaneous dose of 60 mg every 6 months, for a year. Vitamin D and oral calcium were given daily. Lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) change was the primary end point. RESULTS: Of 114 randomized patients, 111 (denosumab-biosimilar, n = 56; denosumab-reference, n = 55) completed the study. All 114 patients were part of safety and immunogenicity analyses, 110 (denosumab-biosimilar, n = 56; denosumab-reference, n = 54) were part of efficacy analysis, and 20 (denosumab-biosimilar, n = 10; denosumab-reference, n = 10) were part of PK analysis. The bone mineral density (BMD) (lumbar spine) percent change at 1 year with denosumab-biosimilar and denosumab-reference (7.22 vs. 7.62; difference:-0.40; 95% confidence interval: -5.92, 5.12) showed no statistically relevant difference. Likewise, alkaline phosphatase (bone-specific) and PK parameters also did not show statistically relevant differences. Adverse events were reported in 44.83% of patients on denosumab-biosimilar versus 33.93% of patients on denosumab-reference; most events were mild or moderate and not related to the study drugs. No patients showed anti-denosumab antibody positivity. CONCLUSIONS: Denosumab-biosimilar and denosumab-reference showed biosimilarity in osteoporotic postmenopausal women. Availability of denosumab-biosimilar provides a treatment alternative for patients.