Comparative clinical outcome following individualized follitropin delta dosing in Chinese women undergoing ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization /intracytoplasmic sperm injection
Rui Yang, Yunshan Zhang, Xiaoyan Liang, Xueru Song, Zhaolian Wei, Jianqiao Liu, Yezhou Yang, Jichun Tan, Qingxue Zhang, Yingpu Sun, Wei Wang, Weiping Qian, Jin Lei, Shuyu Wang, Yang Xu, Jing Yang, Marie Goethberg, Bernadette Mannaerts, Wen Wu, Zugeng Zheng, Jie Qiao
Abstract
BACKGROUND: To compare the efficacy and safety of follitropin delta in its individualized fixed-dose regimen with follitropin alfa in a conventional adjustable dosing regimen in Chinese women. METHODS: This was a subgroup analysis of the randomized, multi-center, assessor-blind, non-inferiority trial (GRAPE) including 759 Chinese women (aged 20-40 years) recruited in 16 reproductive medicine clinics in China. Women were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to be treated with either follitropin delta dose based on anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and body weight or conventional dosing with follitropin alfa following a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist protocol. The primary outcome was ongoing pregnancy rate assessed 10-11 weeks after embryo transfer in the fresh cycle (non-inferiority margin -10.0%). RESULTS: 378 in the follitropin delta group and 381 in the follitropin alfa group were randomized and exposed. Non-inferiority was confirmed with respect to ongoing pregnancy with rates of 31.0% vs. 25.7% for follitropin delta compared to follitropin alfa, estimated mean difference of 5.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) -1.3% to 11.5%). The clinical pregnancy rate (35.4% vs. 31.5%, P = 0.239) and live birth rate (31.0% vs. 25.5%, P = 0.101) were comparable between the follitropin delta group and the follitropin alfa group. Overall, the individualized follitropin delta treatment resulted in fewer oocytes retrieved compared to follitropin alfa treatment (10.3 ± 6.2 vs. 12.5 ± 7.5, P < 0.001), which was mainly due to fewer oocytes (10.5 ± 6.4 vs. 13.9 ± 7.8) in women with AMH ≥ 15 pmol/L. Accordingly there was a lower incidence of early ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS) and/or preventive interventions (6.1% vs. 11.0%, P = 0.013). A daily follitropin delta dose of 10.2 µg (95% CI: 9.3-11.2 µg) was estimated to provide the same number of oocytes retrieved as a starting dose of 150 IU/d of follitropin alfa. CONCLUSION: Follitropin delta in its individualized fixed-dose regimen showed similar efficacy and improved safety compared with follitropin alfa in a conventional adjustable dosing regimen in Chinese women. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03296527.