Looking for CLARITY on biologics and coronavirus

Trial assesses antibody levels in people taking infliximab and vedolizumab

Crohn’s & Colitis UK are supporting the CLARITY trial, which is looking at the impact of COVID-19 on people taking either infliximab or vedolizumab. Both biologic medicines block parts of the immune system, but vedolizumab works specifically on immune cells in the gut, whereas infliximab can affect the immune response throughout the whole body.

Researchers are looking at blood samples collected since the start of 2020 from Crohn’s and Colitis patients. The researchers want to see if people on infliximab and vedolizumab produce antibodies to coronavirus and to coronavirus vaccines. Antibodies, along with other parts of the immune system, help your body to fight infections.

At the time this magazine went to press, results showed that people on infliximab and vedolizumab were just as likely to catch coronavirus as the general population. People taking vedolizumab were more likely to make a good level of antibodies after their first vaccination than people taking infliximab. But after two doses of the vaccine (or a single dose after previously being infected with coronavirus), most people on infliximab also made a good level of antibodies.

It is strongly recommended that you have both vaccine doses

Crohn’s & Colitis UK research programme lead Nikul Bakshi says: “More evidence is being gathered all the time and further papers will be released as the researchers get more data. We will keep our members up to date on the CLARITY study via our website.

“It is strongly recommended that you have both coronavirus vaccine doses when offered, regardless of which medicine you take or if you have had coronavirus before.”

CLARITY is studying data on 6,935 patients from 92 UK hospitals. It is led by the IBD research team at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Exeter Medical School.

Find out more

www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/clarity