Evaluating perceptions of ofatumumab in multiple sclerosis via social media listening-early 6 months post approval data

Introduction: Ofatumumab was approved in the United States (US) for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) in August 2020. Objectives: The key objective of social media listening (SML) was to understand the perceptions and sentiments of stakeholders (patients, healthcare providers [HCPs], payers, and advocacy groups) in the US for ofatumumab as a treatment for MS in the first 6 months post-approval in the real-world. Aims: To capture stakeholder conversations related to differentiation, efficacy, side-effects, drivers of adoption/switching, and compare the overall sentiment of ofatumumab to the currently available treatments. Methods: English-language social media content (e.g. open platforms: Twitter, Blogs, Forums, Facebook, Instagram, search analysis via Google) between August 2020-February 2021 was searched employing pre-defined systematic criteria. Using natural language processing, posts were indexed using the patient lexicon and were sorted by relevance, followed by a further manual evaluation to generate insights. Results: In all, there were 8895 MS disease-modifying therapy (DMT) specific posts from key stakeholders of which 1036 (11.6%) were specific to ofatumumab. Major themes for ofatumumab across all stakeholders i.e., patients, HCPs, and advocacy (n=1036) were the route of administration (n=337), efficacy (n=262), and safety (n=223). Stakeholders (HCPs and patients) emphasised the benefits associated with in-home administration, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic (viewed ofatumumab as COVID friendly). Most patients who discussed self-injection relayed their positive experiences with the ofatumumab autoinjector (62%) being painless, fast, and easy to use. High efficacy for ofatumumab mostly resonated by data on reduction in lesions and relapse activity. Most commonly reported side effects (n=66) were feeling sick (21%), fatigue (20%), and headache (17%). Side effects were reported to subside with time and subsequent doses of treatment. For overall perception, ofatumumab had the second most positive sentiment after ocrelizumab (given more familiarity) among all DMTs driven by tolerability, efficacy, and convenience. The most common reason for switching to ofatumumab among posts from patients (n=319) was flexibility/convenience and at home administration (n=116), efficacy (n=112), and ease of injection (n=39). Conclusions: Insights revealed using SML strengthens our understanding of patient experiences and perception of ofatumumab for the treatment of MS.