Is the Risk of Infection Higher During Treatment with Secukinumab than with TNF-inhibitors? An Observational Study from the Nordic Countries

Glintborg B et al, highlight in their recent research from the Nordic countries, that there is a low frequency of hospitalised infections during treatment with secukinumab or TNFi in patients with SpA and PsA. In clinical practice, secukinumab was found to double absolute risk of 1st year hospitalised infection compared with adalimumab, with the other TNFi treatments falling in between.

The study aimed to assess the risk of the key safety outcome infections during treatment with secukinumab and TNFi. Analyses by type of infection including hospitalised infections and infections in outpatient specialized care suggested low rates of infection during treatment with secukinumab and TNFi. It was identified that the differential use of the drugs could be the reason for observed excess risk for secukinumab.