CLINICAL SCENARIO: Canine osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease and is one of the most common chronic conditions in dogs and other species. The management of OA remains a longstanding focus in veterinary medicine. Traditionally, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been the first-line treatment option for canine OA. Recently, bedinvetmab, a canine-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting the nerve growth factor (NGF), has been added as a pain management option for canine OA. CLINICAL QUESTION: Is monthly bedinvetmab injection safe in dogs over 12 months old with OA compared with other interventions? SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS: Four articles met the inclusion criteria of a structured literature search and investigated adverse events (AEs) associated with bedinvetmab. Two studies investigated a 3-month treatment period and did not find an increase in AEs associated with bedinvetmab in comparison with the placebo control group. The third study compared the safety of bedinvetmab to meloxicam in a 2-month treatment period, where bedinvetmab was found to have fewer associated AEs. The fourth study conducted a disproportionality analysis, and the musculoskeletal AEs were reported significantly more frequently in bedinvetmab-treated dogs than other traditional therapeutics. SUMMARY OF APPRAISAL: There is conflicting evidence regarding the safety of bedinvetmab, though stronger evidence supported the safety of bedinvetmab when administered for under 3 months. FUTURE RESEARCH: Future research should investigate the long-term safety of bedinvetmab and incorporate radiographic imaging pre- and post-treatment to monitor unusual joint changes.
Yang et al. (2026) studied this question.