Adults with immune thrombocytopenia who switched to avatrombopag following prior treatment with eltrombopag or romiplostim: A multicentre US study

Patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) may respond to one thrombopoietin receptor agonist (TPO-RA) but not another. Limited data are available describing outcomes in patients who switched from romiplostim or eltrombopag to avatrombopag, a newer oral TPO-RA. We performed a retrospective observational study of adults with ITP who switched from eltrombopag or romiplostim to avatrombopag at four US tertiary ITP referral centres. Forty-four patients were included, with a mean ITP duration of 8.3 years and a median (range) of four prior ITP treatments. On avatrombopag, 41/44 patients (93%) achieved a platelet response (≥50 × 109 /l) and 38/44 patients (86%) achieved a complete response (≥100 × 109 /l). In all patients, the median platelet count on eltrombopag or romiplostim was 45 × 109 /l vs 114 × 109 /l on avatrombopag (p < 0.0001); in patients switched for ineffectiveness of romiplostim/eltrombopag, it was 28 × 109 /l on romiplostim/eltrombopag vs 88 × 109 /l on avatrombopag (p = 0.025). Fifty-seven percent of patients receiving concomitant ITP medications before switching discontinued them after switching, including 63% of patients receiving chronic corticosteroids. In a heavily pretreated chronic ITP population, avatrombopag was effective following therapy with romiplostim or eltrombopag, with high response rates even in patients with inadequate response to a prior TPO-RA.