Pooled analysis of thrombotic cardiovascular events in clinical trials of the COX‐2 selective Inhibitor etoricoxib

• Published in: Current medical research and opinion 2006-12, Vol.22 (12), p.2365-2374
• Main Authors: Curtis, Sean P., Ko, Amy T., Bolognese, James A., Cavanaugh, Paul F., Reicin, Alise S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - adverse effects; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - drug therapy; Cardiovascular; Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors - adverse effects; Diclofenac; Diclofenac - adverse effects; Etoricoxib; Humans; Ibuprofen; Naproxen; Osteoarthritis - drug therapy; Pyridines - adverse effects; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Sulfones - adverse effects; Thrombosis - chemically induced; Thrombosis - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0300-7995; 1473-4877; 1473-4877
• DOI: 10.1185/030079906X148238

ABSTRACT Background: A pooled analysis of randomized clinical trials data was performed to compare the rate of thrombotic cardiovascular events (thrombotic events) in patients taking the COX-2 selective inhibitor (coxib) etoricoxib, a traditional NSAID, or placebo. Methods: Data collected during all phase IIb/III etoricoxib clinical trials ≥ 4 weeks in duration were evaluated. The pooled data set includes clinical information from ≈ 6500 patient-years (PYs) of drug exposure in patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), or chronic low back pain (CLBP). Patients were treated with either etoricoxib (≥ 60 mg/day), the traditional NSAIDs naproxen (1000 mg/day), ibuprofen (2400 mg/day), diclofenac (150 mg/day), or placebo. The Relative risks (RRs) based on time to first occurrence of a thrombotic event in the etoricoxib group versus the comparator traditional NSAIDs or versus placebo were determined using patient-level data. Results: In the pooled dataset, a total of 74 thrombotic events occurred in 69 patients. The RRs for thrombotic events were 1.11 (95%CI: 0.32, 3.81) for etoricoxib (N = 2818) versus placebo (N = 1767); 0.83 (95%CI: 0.26, 2.64) for etoricoxib (N = 1266) versus the combined non-naproxen traditional NSAID group (ibuprofen and diclofenac; N = 718); and 1.70 (95%CI: 0.91, 3.18) for etoricoxib (N = 1960) versus naproxen (N = 1497). Conclusions: There was no discernible difference in the incidence of thrombotic events in patients treated with etoricoxib versus non-naproxen traditional NSAIDs in this limited dataset. A trend toward more events with etoricoxib versus naproxen was observed. Despite the limited dataset available for this pooled analysis, these results are consistent with findings for other coxibs.