Publications

Rates of malignancy were similar between upadacitinib, adalimumab, and MTX. They were also consistent across RA, PsA, AS and nr-axSpA. A dose-dependent increased rate of NMSC was observed with upadacitinib in RA. For RA and PsA, being older (≥65 years) and male was associated with
an increased risk of malignancy excluding NMSC.

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.

The results of a Bayesian network meta-analysis by Lee and Song showed that JAK inhibitors were more likely to achieve remission and LDA in DMARD-naive RA patients than MTX. However, there were no significant differences in remission rates nor LDA rates between the JAK inhibitors investigated.

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.

Investigators from a phase 2 study concluded that further investigation with BMS-986142 (a novel BTK) in people with RA is not necessary.

This systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluated the proportion of patients in remission after the dosage of MTX was tapered, and concludes that patients with controlled RA may taper MTX from targeted therapy with a 10% reduction in the ability to sustain remission for up to 18 months.

This post hoc analysis of data from the ORAL Shift study, concludes that DAS28-4(ESR), CDAI remission and SDAI remission are the metrics most likely to reflect actual disease activity, in the context of tofacitinib in a randomised withdrawal of MTX.

Post hoc analysis from the FINCH 1 study highlights filgotinib as a potential beneficial treatment option for patients with RA who have had inadequate response to MTX and have high risk of disease progression and poor prognosis.

Post hoc analysis findings provide the first data evaluating the importance of treatment order with JAKinib vs TNFi as initial therapy, suggesting that a JAKinib first strategy leads to more rapid improvements in treatment outcomes following csDMARD failure.