In this analysis of patients with moderate to severe RA treated with tofacitinib (TOF) in Phase 3 and long-term extension (LTE) studies, patients aged 65 years had similar efficacy and a numerically higher risk of SAEs and discontinuations due to AEs compared with younger patients.The Phase 3 population included patients from five trials (n=3111) of TOF 5 mg or 10 mg BID or placebo. The LTE population (n=4102) included patients from two studies who had participated in Phase 1, 2 or 3 TOF studie...

February 2017

In this analysis examining haematological changes after tofacitinib (TOF) treatment in patients with RA from pooled Phase 3 and LTE studies, TOF decreased mean lymphocyte counts and slightly increased mean haemoglobin (Hb) levels. The Phase 3 population included patients from six trials (n=4271) of TOF 5- or 10 mg BID, placebo or active comparator up to 24 months. The LTE population (n=4858) included patients from two studies (of up to 84 months), who had participated in Phase 1, 2 or 3 TOF stud...

May 2015

Mean increases from baseline in patient serum creatinine (SCr) levels have been observed in the clinical development programme for the JAK inhibitor tofacitinib. These increases predominantly occurred within the first three months, and reversed with tofacitinib withdrawal.

This phase 1, randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, 2-period study assessed changes in measured glomerular filtration rate (mGFR) with tofacitinib, relative to placebo, in 148 patients with active RA. Result...

March 2015

Filgotinib (GLPG0634) is a selective inhibitor of JAK1 currently in development for the treatment of RA and Crohn’s disease. This paper describes the pharmacokinetics of filgotinib and its active metabolite, as well as the PK/PD modelling to support dose selection for phase IIB.

Two phase I, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in healthy volunteers and one phase IIa proof-of-concept study in RA patients were used to evaluate single and multiple doses of filgotinib.

January 2015

Current biologic therapies for RA, such as biologic cytokine inhibitors, which selectively target inflammatory molecules with an exquisite degree of specificity, are not clinically effective in all patients with rheumatoid arthritis. As such, there remains an unmet clinical need for more effective and better tolerated therapies. Baricitinib (LY3009104, also previously known as INCB028050) is a potent and selective small molecule inhibitor of JAK1/2, which play an important role in cytokine signa...

December 2014

The JAK inhibitor tofacitinib suppresses synovial JAK1-STAT signalling in rheumatoid arthritis

Ann Rheum Dis. 2014 Nov 14. pii: annrheumdis-2014-206028. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-206028. [Epub ahead of print]

Targeting intracellular pathways such as JAK/STAT represents a novel approach to the treatment of RA. Tofacitinib is an oral JAK inhibitor, proven to be effective in the treatment of RA, yet the pathways affected by tofacitinib and the effects on gene expression in situ are unknown. In this study, Boyle et al. tested the hypothesis that tofacitinib targets cytokine signalling critical to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid synovitis by investigating tofacitinib effects on synovial pathobiology.

October 2013

Current JAK inhibitors CP-690,550 and INCB020850 have inhibitory effects on multiple JAK pathways, therefore Migita et al. tested whether selective inhibition of JAK3, using PF-956980, would be enough to ameliorate the rheumatoid inflammatory process. The results indicated that the inhibition of JAK3 alone is does not achieve control of STAT3-dependent signalling, and while it is suggested that the targeting of singular JAK pathways should lead to fewer adverse events, it appears that this appro...

Keywords:

September 2013

Inhibition of spleen tyrosine kinase in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatology 2013;52:1556–1562 doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ket225

Both the innate and adaptive immune responses are targeted by current RA treatments, but these treatments do not achieve consistent sustained disease remission. Protein kinase inhibitors represent a promising new therapeutic target, owing to their influence on downstream signalling and oral bioavailability. Fostamatinib (R788) has shown ACR20 responses of 67–72% in MTX inadequate responder patients at doses of 100mg bd and 150mg bd. However, the results in biologic non-responder patients were no...

Keywords: