Are Infliximab and Adalimumab Equally Effective in Crohn Disease?

The two most commonly used tumor necrosis factor blockers for Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis are infliximab and adalimumab. Most clinicians consider them to be equivalent in efficacy even though no head-to-head comparisons have been conducted.

In the current retrospective cohort study, investigators used U.S. Medicare data from 2006 to 2010 to identify patients with Crohn disease who were new users of infliximab or adalimumab. They compared clinical outcomes of persistent drug use at treatment week 26, surgery, and hospitalization for Crohn disease between the two groups.

At 26 weeks, 49% of 1459 patients receiving infliximab remained on the drug, similar to 47% of 871 patients receiving adalimumab. The rate of surgery in patients on in…