To examine patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) with off-treatment periods, and to characterize off-treatment periods.

CIDP is a rare and severe autoimmune neuropathy with progressive, relapsing, or monophasic courses. Although CIDP typically requires ongoing care, some patients discontinue treatment due to suspected remission or unmet needs with available therapies including treatment burden, suboptimal efficacy, or tolerability concerns. 

Adult patients with confirmed CIDP diagnosis and treatment initiation (first observed diagnosis date as index) were identified in Komodo Health’s Patient Level Insights Data (PLAID) closed claims database 01/01/2020–04/29/2026. Eligible patients had continuous enrollment ≥1-year pre- and post-index and were followed until end of enrollment. Patients with off-treatment periods (≥6-months) after treatment initiation were selected. Demographic and clinical characteristics were assessed at index. The first observed off-treatment period was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier methods, with time zero at off-treatment start and event as CIDP treatment restart (censored at end of enrollment).

2085 patients with at least one off-treatment period were analyzed. At index, mean (SD) age was 65.5 (13.7) years; 60.3% (n=1257) were male; 29.8% (n=621) used commercial insurance; mean (SD) Charlson Comorbidity Index was 2.6 (2.6). Mean (SD) follow-up was 3.3 (1.4) years. Immunoglobulin monotherapy (24%, n=503) and corticosteroid monotherapy (14%, n=295) were the most common CIDP treatments used before the first observed off-treatment period. The first observed off-treatment period lasted for a median (IQR) duration of 13.2 (8.6–21.8) months. The probability of patients resuming treatment was 33.9% at 12 months (95% CI: 31.8%–36.1%), and 58.9% at 24 months (95% CI: 56.4%–61.4%).

Median time to treatment re-initiation of 13 months suggests that, for most patients, a pause in therapy does not reflect durable long-term remission. Importantly, factors other than disease remission may also contribute to treatment pauses.