Background: Superior efficacy and safety of ofatumumab were demonstrated in Phase III ASCLEPIOS trials.
Objectives: The social media listening (SML) was aimed to understand the perceptions and sentiments of stakeholders (patients, healthcare providers [HCPs], advocacy groups) in the United States for ofatumumab in the first 3 months of its availability in the real-world as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.
Methods: English-language social media content (e.g. open platforms: Twitter, Blogs, Forums, Facebook, Instagram, search analysis via Google) between August 2020 and November 2020 was searched employing pre-defined systematic criteria. Using natural language processing (NLP), posts were indexed using the patient lexicon and were sorted by relevance, followed by a further manual evaluation to generate patient insights. Outcomes included understanding the advantages of ofatumumab perceived by stakeholders, sentiment analysis vs other injectables, and drivers of adoption of/switching to ofatumumab.
Results: In all, there were 3177 MS disease-modifying therapy (DMT) specific posts from key stakeholders of which 352 were specific to ofatumumab. Major themes viewed as advantages for ofatumumab across all stakeholders patients, HCPs, and advocacy (n=352) were the route of administration (n=158), efficacy (n=98), and safety (n=46). Both CD20 class DMTs, ofatumumab and ocrelizumab were viewed as the top 2 DMTs to have an optimal risk-benefit profile. Ofatumumab was perceived to be slightly safer than ocrelizumab and other infused DMTs, primarily due to the advantage of at-home administration in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and no pretreatment. For overall perception, ofatumumab had the most positive sentiment among all injectable DMTs driven by tolerability, efficacy, and convenience. The most common reason for the adoption of/switching to ofatumumab among posts from patients (n=197) was flexibility/convenience and at home administration (n=40), efficacy/reduced relapse and lesions (n=36), lack of side effects/favorable safety profile (n=21), and easy injection process (n=11). HCPs considered switching patients to ofatumumab due to efficacy and at-home administration. Common areas for stakeholders (n=352) wanting more information were COVID-19 vaccine response (n=16), B-cell repopulation (n=9), and understanding use in primary progressive population (n=5).
Conclusions: Insights revealed using SML strengthens our understanding about patient experiences and perception of ofatumumab for the treatment of MS.
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