In this observational study, the German RABBIT cohort was used to assess the long-term effectiveness and retention rates of tocilizumab (TCZ) in patients with prior bDMARD failures. Results of the study suggested that TCZ could be an effective treatment option for patients with difficult-to-treat RA. A total of 885 patients were involved in the study and these were categorised dependent on the number of bDMARD failures they had prior to TCZ treatment. Patient data recorded in the cohort included...
This 6-month prospective direct comparison study analysed the effectiveness of tofacitinib (TOF) therapy on bDMARD-naïve and bDMARD-experienced patients. bDMARD-naïve patients were more responsive to TOF therapy than bDMARD-experienced patients.The study analysed the data of 113 patients diagnosed with high or moderate disease activity, defined using CDAI scores. All patients had failed to achieve CDAI low disease activity or remission with MTX therapy for ≥3 months. Patients were given 5 mg TOF...

November 2017

The study data presented that tofacitinib (TOF) improves efficacy response rates in patients with severe psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who have an inadequate response to TNF inhibitors.The Phase 3 Oral Psoriatic Arthritis Trial (OPAL) Beyond study evaluated patients with active PsA who had inadequate responses to more than one TNFi. Patients were randomised 2:2:1:1 to 5 mg TOF BID or 10 mg TOF BID for 6 months; or PBO, with a switch to 5 mg TOF BID or to 10 mg BID at 3 months.Primary endpoints were ...

October 2017

RA-BEGIN was a Phase 3, double-blind randomised active comparator-controlled study to evaluate baricitinib as monotherapy or in combination with MTX in patients with active RA who were naïve to csDMARDS and bDMARDS. In this analysis of the RA-BEGIN study, baricitinib alone or with MTX when used as initial therapy resulted in significant improvements in most patient-reported outcome measures compared with MTX. At baseline, study participants had active RA, impaired physical function, moderate le...
In this pooled analysis investigating liver enzyme abnormalities and hepatic adverse events (AEs) during long-term tocilizumab (TCZ) treatment for RA in clinical trials, although transaminase elevations were frequent, rates of hepatic serious AEs remained low. Data were pooled from patients who received ≥1 dose of IV TCZ with or without DMARDs in Phase 3 or 4 clinical trials, long-term extensions, and a pharmacology study.A total of 4171 patients were included in the all-exposure population with...

August 2017

Based on a Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) in patients with RA who previously showed failure with csDMARDs or biologics, discontinuation rates between tofacitinib (TOF) and biologics (TNFis, abatacept [ABT], rituximab [RTX] and tocilizumab [TCZ]) differed based on previous treatments and reasons for discontinuation.Data were collected from randomised controlled trials (RCT) found from literature searches from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and MEDLINE. Disconti...
Because non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is one of the most common malignancies associated with RA immunomodulatory therapies, this analysis looked to determine the rate of NMSC incidence per 100 patient-years in patients with RA receiving TOF in the clinical trial programme. The Phase 1, 2, and 3 IRs (combined) for both TOF 5- and 10 mg were low and comparable to those of adalimumab, MTX and placebo, IRs remained stable over time. TOF doses used in the 2 Phase 1; 8 Phase 2; and 6 Phase 3 studies...

July 2017

To date, the comparative efficacy of tocilizumab and TNFi for patients with RA has only been investigated in a single head-to-head trial and network meta-analyses. This study, ACT-iON, is the first prospective, large-scale, global, multicentre, comparative effectiveness study comparing initiation of intravenous tocilizumab with initiation of a TNFi in patients with RA as the first-line biologic treatment after inadequate response to csDMARDs. Patients were observed in a real-world, clinical pra...

May 2017

This study showed that in patients who achieved low disease activity (LDA), it is possible to discontinue tofacitinib without flare in approximately one-third of patients. Patients from the tofacitinib Phase 3 programme and long-term extension study were enroled. Discontinuation was based on physician-patient decision making with informed consent. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients who remained tofacitinib free at post-treatment Week 52. Of 64 patients treated with tofacitinib w...

April 2017

The EULAR 2016 recommendations update, based on three systematic literature reviews (SLRs) and expert opinion, comprises four overarching principles and 12 recommendations compared with 14, respectively, in 2013. These recommendations intend to inform regarding EULAR’s most recent consensus on the management of RA, with the aim of attaining the best outcomes with current therapies.All DMARD types: csDMARDs, bDMARDs, tsDMARD and bsDMARD are addressed, and cost aspects are taken into consideration...

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