Efficacy and relative safety of caplacizumab in immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura (iTTP) is a rare microvascular disease characterized by severe disseminated microvascular thrombose-bleeding syndrome. Caplacizumab has been approved for the treatment of iTTP in combination with Plasma Exchange (PE) and immunosuppressive therapy, but its role in iTTP therapy remains uncertain. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the safety and efficacy of caplacizumab for the treatment of patients with iTTP. We searched electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Scopus) and reference lists of relevant articles to find articles published from 2015 to 2022. The time to normalization of the platelet count of the group caplacizumab is shorter than the group placebo (SMD = -0.72; 95% CI -0.88 to -0.56; P < 0.05). Caplacizumab reduced the incidence of mortality (OR = 0.41; 95% CI 0.18-0.92; P < 0.05), exacerbations (OR = 0.10; 95% CI 0.05-0.18; P < 0.05), and recurrence (OR = 0.17; 95% CI 0.06-0.50; P < 0.05). However, the bleeding events in the caplacizumab group were higher than those in the placebo group, especially severe bleeding events. There was no difference in ADAMTS13 activity and thromboembolic events between the two groups. Our analysis indicated that caplacizumab is effective and well tolerated for the treatment of iTTP.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42022362370.