July 2022

Efficacy and Safety of Upadacitinib for Active Ankylosing Spondylitis Refractory to Biological Therapy: A Double-blind, Randomised, Placebo-controlled Phase 3 Trial

Ann Rheum Dis 2022 doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2022-222608

Van der Heijde et al., carried out a study to show whether upadacitinib offers an effective treatment option for bDMARD-naïve and bDMARD-IR patients with active AS. Their results indicated that upadacitinib 15 mg significantly improved the signs and symptoms of active AS. The treatment was well tolerated for 14 weeks in bDMARD-IR patients, consistent with results observed in the upadacitinib AS bDMARD-naïve study.

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

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022 doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keac358

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.

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Guselkumab provides sustained domain-specific and comprehensive efficacy using composite indices in patients with active psoriatic arthritis

Rheumatology (Oxford) 2022 doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keac375

This analysis found that patients with active PsA who receive treatment with guselkumab can achieve robust and sustained low disease activity or remission. In reaching this conclusion investigators sought to evaluate the efficacy of guselkumab for the treatment of active PsA through the use of composite indices.

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Effect of bimekizumab on symptoms and impact of disease in patients with psoriatic arthritis over 3 years: results from BE ACTIVE

Rheumatology (Oxford) 2022 doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keac353

Here bimekizumab was associated with long-term reductions in disease activity and disease impact on patients with PsA. This investigation set out to evaluate the long-term effects of bimekizumab treatment on the key symptoms of PsA and the resulting impact on patient function and HRQoL.

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June 2022

Effect of Tofacitinib on Pain, Fatigue, Health-related Quality of Life and Work Productivity in Patients with Active Ankylosing Spondylitis: Results from A Phase III, Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial

RMD Open 2022 doi:10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002253

Navarro-Compán et al, determined the effectiveness of tofacitinib in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis in a Phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

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Magnetic resonance imaging characteristics in patients with spondyloarthritis and clinical diagnosis of heel enthesitis: post hoc analysis from the phase 3 ACHILLES trial

Arthritis Res Ther. 2022 doi: 10.1186/s13075-022-02797-8

Enthesitis is a hallmark feature of SpA, including PsA and axSpA, and is proposed as the primary lesion in spondyloarthropathies. This study aimed to investigate the imaging characteristics of heel enthesitis in SpA in a post hoc analysis using the HEMRIS in blinded and centrally read MRI data from the ACHILLES trial..

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Effects of anti-TNF-therapy on inflammatory, structural and osteoblastic activity lesions in radiographic axial spondyloarthritis - a prospective proof-of-concept study using PET/MRI of SIJ and spine

Arthritis Rheumatol. 2022 doi: 10.1002/art.42149

Bruckmann et al carried out this observational, proof of concept study to analyse the effect anti-TNF-therapy (TNFi) on inflammatory, structural, and osteoblastic activity lesions in radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (r-axSpA).  

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April 2022

Oral surveillance and JAK inhibitor safety: the theory of relativity

Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2022. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1038/s41584-022-00767-7

Putting the data into context, Winthrop, et al. conclude that the ORAL Surveillance data are not dissimilar to those from the original developmental programme, which suggested additional safety concerns at the 10 mg dosage and that resulted in the 5 mg twice daily dosage as the approved dose for RA.Following the recent results of the ORAL Surveillance (ORALSURV) study, and the consequent changes to the utilisation of JAKinibs, made by the regulatory authorities, Winthrop, et al. aim to put the O...

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March 2022

The effect of secukinumab on patient-reported outcomes in patients with active psoriatic arthritis in a randomised phase 3 trial

Lancet. 2022. Epub ahead of print

Predefined analysis of FUTURE 5, the largest Phase 3 randomised trial of secukinumab in patients with PsA to date, demonstrates that secukinumab results in early, statistically significant, clinically meaningful, sustained improvements in PROs across all doses, compared with placebo.The fully human anti-interleukin 17A monoclonal antibody, secukinumab has shown clinical and radiographical efficacy in patients with PsA, yet the clinical significance of improvements across a wide variety of PROs r...

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Long-term safety and efficacy of upadacitinib or adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: results through 3 years from the SELECT-COMPARE study

RMD Open. 2022;8(1):e002012 doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2021-002012

Upadacitinib continues to show consistently better clinical responses, compared with adalimumab, through 3 years, including rates of remission and low disease activity, physical function and pain severity.Following the favourable upadacitinib efficacy data seen in the SELECT-COMPARE study at 72 weeks, Fleischmann, et al. assessed the long-term safety and efficacy of upadacitinib versus adalimumab over 3 years in the long-term extension of this study, with promising results. ...

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