RebiSmart Usage Among Young, Less Disabled MS Patients May Improve with More Knowledge, Study Suggests

Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients accurately report the use of the RebiSmart autoinjector to their neurologists, a questionnaire-based study has found.

The Phase 4 noninterventional CORE study also suggests that being knowledgeable about RebiSmart is a key factor in improving usage in younger patients and those with lower disability levels.

The results, including questionnaires from 56 patients, were reported in a study, “Subjective patient-reported versus objective adherence to subcutaneous interferon β-1a in multiple sclerosis using RebiSmart: the CORE study,” that appeared in the journal BMC Neurology.

The more an MS patient adheres to therapy, the more it may reduce the risk of relapse, disease progression and hospitalization. Adherence also improves quality of life while reducing MS-related medical costs.

Merck’s RebiSmart device is an electronic, multidose autoinjector for subcutaneous self-injection of interferon (IFN) β-1a, which is known to reduce relapses. An electronic log-file system objectively monitors patients’ adherence to RebiSmart — which is crucial when deciding on alternative treatments for patients who stop taking RebiSmart.

In the Phase 4 CORE study, researchers at 11 sites in Switzerland compared RebiSmart’s recorded dosing history with adherence reported by patients to their neurologists. They found that patients accurately reported adherence to RebiSmart even during a median treatment duration of two years.

Researchers found that the high-adherence group included older patients (53 years vs. 41 years in the low adherence group) and with a greater expanded disability status scale (3 versus 1.5).

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