Cure8 research brief
Biologics can be critical for treating moderate-to-severe IBD, but cost and treatment failure limit access and long‑term use in this Indian cohort. Understanding uptake and reasons for stopping helps target interventions to improve care.
Adult patients with IBD, clinicians treating IBD (especially in resource-limited settings), health policy makers focused on drug access, and researchers studying real-world biologic use and persistence.
This study from a single center in India looked at how many people with IBD needed biologic therapy, how many actually received it, and how long they stayed on treatment. Among 697 patients (prospective and retrospective arms), about 16% overall were judged to need biologics; of those, most received therapy but a notable minority did not because of cost.
Around one-third of treated patients later stopped biologics, with primary non‑response or secondary loss of response and affordability cited as main reasons. The paper reports median durations on therapy for those who continued (about 13–19 months depending on cohort) and separates findings for a prospective arm and a retrospective arm.
The authors conclude that efforts should focus on reducing cost barriers and optimizing use to improve persistence.
Source is a peer-reviewed journal abstract from a single-center observational study (prospective + retrospective arms). Results describe proportions and reasons for starting/stopping biologics but do not present randomized comparisons or broader national-level data.
Review the original publication for the complete reporting, methods, and context.
Conflict statement: Declarations. Conflict of interest: SH, DD, PA, SP, VP and TG have no financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Ethical approval: This study has been approved by institutional ethical committee (IRB 1721–23 DD). Ethics statement: The study was performed conforming to the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 and 2008 concerning human and animal rights, and the authors followed the policy concerning informed consent as shown on Springer.com. Patient consent: Patient identifiers have been removed from the manuscript. Permission to reproduce material from other sources: NA Clinical trial registration number: NA Use of AI: AI was used to generate graphical abstract. Disclaimer: The authors are solely responsible for the data and the content of the paper. In no way, the Honorary Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board Members, the Indian Society of Gastroenterology or the printer/publishers are responsible for the results/findings and content of this article.
This Cure8 brief is based on source text from the linked article. Cure8 is informational only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
This study looks at how immunomodulators are actually used with biologic drugs in real-world practice when a national reimbursement policy forces biologic interruptions.
Many patients and clinicians are interested in subcutaneous infliximab because it can be more convenient than IV infusions and may change drug exposure.
For people with IBD who do not respond to standard biologic doses, escalating the dose appears common in routine care and was associated with better short-term remission rates and reduced healthcare use in this registry...
