Efficacy and safety of daily mirabegron 50 mg in male patients with overactive bladder: a critical analysis of five phase III studies

Oral pharmacotherapies to treat overactive bladder (OAB) are used less in men despite a similar prevalence of storage symptoms as women. The efficacy and safety of once-daily mirabegron 50 mg was evaluated in male OAB patients from five phase III studies that included placebo or antimuscarinic (tolterodine ER 4 mg or solifenacin 5 mg) as a comparator.

Three pooled 12-week placebo-controlled studies (mirabegron 50 mg versus placebo) and one 12-week non-inferiority phase IIIb study (BEYOND; mirabegron 50 mg versus solifenacin 5 mg) were used for efficacy (daily micturition frequency, urgency and incontinence episodes) and safety analyses. An additional 52-week active-controlled phase III safety study (mirabegron 50 mg versus tolterodine ER 4 mg) was included in the safety analysis. Male patients aged ⩾18 years with OAB for ⩾3 months were included in the analyses. Patients may also have a history of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)/benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) or concomitant use of α1-blockers.

In the pooled studies, mirabegron 50 mg demonstrated superiority versus placebo (treatment difference: -0.37 [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.74, -0.01]) for reducing micturition frequency; improvements in urgency and incontinence were not significantly different between mirabegron 50 mg and placebo. In BEYOND, mirabegron 50 mg was comparable with solifenacin 5 mg for reducing micturition frequency, urgency, and incontinence episodes. Mirabegron was well tolerated at 12 and 52 weeks and overall treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) were similar to those with placebo.

In a male OAB population with or without LUTS associated with BPH/BPE, mirabegron 50 mg provided similar improvements in urgency, frequency, and incontinence as solifenacin 5 mg, and is a well-tolerated alternative to antimuscarinics. In the three pooled 12-week studies, significant differences were not seen for urgency and incontinence versus placebo, although mirabegron 50 mg did demonstrate significant improvements versus placebo for frequency.

Therapeutic advances in urology. 2017 May 10*** epublish ***

Andrea Tubaro, José E Batista, Victor W Nitti, Sender Herschorn, Christopher R Chapple, Mary Beth Blauwet, Emad Siddiqui, Moses Huang, Matthias Oelke

Department of Urology, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 'Sapienza' University, Via di Grottarossa 1035-1039, 00189 Rome, Italy., Urodynamics Unit, URD/Hospital Quiron Teknon, Barcelona, Spain., Department of Urology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA., Department of Surgery/Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada., Department of Urology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK., Department of Biostatistics, Astellas, Northbrook, IL, USA., Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd, Chertsey, Surrey., Department of Urology, Academic Medical Hospital, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands.