Incidence of COVID-19 in 902 Patients With Immunomediated Inflammatory Diseases Treated With Biologics and Targeted Synthetic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs—Findings From the BIOCOVID Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among patients with immunomediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) treated with biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs and tsDMARDs) and to evaluate the influence of either IMIDs or related therapies on the incidence and evolution of COVID-19.Methods: This observational, cross-sectional study was conducted from January 31, 2020, to May 15, 2020. Data of 902 patients were obtained from clinical records in hospitals, primary care units, and community pharmacies. Inclusion criteria were adults with IMIDs treated with bDMARDs or tsDMARDs who started therapy 3 months prior to study commencement. Patients with poor adherence to treatments were excluded. COVID-19 was classified as "definitive" (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 polymerase chain reaction [PCR]-positive), "possible" (characteristic symptoms and negative PCR), and "suspected" (characteristic symptoms but PCR not performed).Results: COVID-19 was diagnosed in 70 patients (11 definitive, 19 possible, and 40 suspected). The cumulative incidence of definitive COVID-19 was 1.2%. When considering all cases, the incidence was 7.8%. Patients on biosimilars tumor necrosis factor blockers were more likely to have a diagnosis of COVID-19 (odds ratio, 2.308; p < 0.001). Patients on anti-B-cell therapies had a lower incidence of infections (p = 0.046). Low rates of hospitalization (14.3%), pneumonia (14.3%), death (2.9%), or thrombosis (2.9%) were observed, and 94.3% of patients recovered. Conclusions:The cumulative incidence of confirmed cases of COVID-19 was similar to the general population, with generally low hospitalization, intensive care management, and mortality rates. COVID-19 incidence was less frequent in patients with more severe immunosuppression.