Survival among patients receiving eteplirsen for up to 8 years for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and contextualization with natural history controls

Abstract Introduction/Aims Eteplirsen, approved in the US for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) with exon 51 skip‐amenable variants, is associated with attenuated ambulatory/pulmonary decline versus DMD natural history (NH). We report overall survival in a US cohort receiving eteplirsen and contextualize these outcomes versus DMD NH. Methods US patients with DMD receiving eteplirsen were followed through a patient support program, with data collected on ages at eteplirsen initiation and death/end of follow‐up. Individual DMD NH data were extracted by digitizing Kaplan–Meier (KM) curves from published systematic and targeted literature reviews. Overall survival age was analyzed using KM curves and contextualized with DMD NH survival curves; subanalyses considered age groups and duration of eteplirsen exposure. Overall survival time from treatment initiation was also evaluated. Results A total of 579 eteplirsen‐treated patients were included. During a total follow‐up of 2119 person‐years, median survival age was 32.8 years. DMD NH survival curves extracted from four publications (follow‐up for 1224 DMD NH controls) showed overall pooled median survival age of 27.4 years. Eteplirsen‐treated patients had significantly longer survival from treatment initiation versus age‐matched controls (age‐adjusted hazard ratio HR, 0.65; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.44–0.98; p < .05). Longer treatment exposure was associated with improved survival (HR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.05–0.41; p < .001). Comparisons using different DMD NH cohorts to address common risks of bias yielded consistent findings. Discussion Data suggest eteplirsen may prolong survival in patients with DMD across a wide age range. As more data become available, the impact of eteplirsen on survival will be further elucidated.