Findings from post hoc analyses extend the knowledge base for radiographic benefits of filgotinib in patients with RA.

This study by Harrold, et al. showed that RA patients initiating upadacitinib reported improvements in RAPID3, pain, stiffness, and fatigue as early as Week 1, with 37.5% achieving RAPID3 LDA at Week 12. TNFi-experienced patients had similar outcomes.

Fleischmann, et al investigated the safety and efficacy of otilimab versus tofacitinib and placebo in RA patients treated with MTX (contRAst 1) or csDMARDs (contRAst 2). They found that while otilimab achieved the primary endpoint of ACR20 versus placebo in Week 12, it did not demonstrate non-inferiority to tofacitinib.

July 2023

Phase 3 trial of baricitinib demonstrates efficacy with acceptable safety profile in polyarticular and extended oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, juvenile psoriatic arthritis and enthesitis-related arthritis.

Cicirello, et al. present results showing that baricitinib is comparable in treatment persistence with TNF inhibitors. However, treatment persistence up to 24 months was significantly longer for baricitinib, but the effect size of one month is not clinically meaningful.

Pots hoc analysis of peficitinib Phase 3 trials shows that continued treatment with peficitinib up to Week 52 is linked to improved remission rates in Asian patients with RA.

This single-centre study by Khan, et al. suggests that high-dose methotrexate (25 mg/week, subcutaneously) may be as efficacious as tofacitinib in patients with established RA who are DMARD naïve or have not received a therapeutic dose of DMARDs.

Pots hoc analysis of safety data in patients with RA at increased risk of CV events from the upadacitinib SELECT phase III RA clinical programme helps to contextualise the overall risk profile of upadacitinib.

June 2023

JAK Inhibitors and the Risk of Malignancy: A Meta-analysis Across Disease Indications

Ann Rheum Dis. 2023;82(8):1059–1067 doi: 10.1136/ard-2023-224049

The objective of this study was to estimate the association of JAKi with the incidence of malignancy, compared with placebo, TNFi and MTX.

The results from Simon, et al. show that baricitinib treatment correlates with improvements in bone stiffness. Further improvements were also observed at the end of Week 52, with an increase in estimated failure load and no measurable progression in bone erosion being reported.