Publications

Treatment of axial spondyloarthritis: an update

Nat Rev Rheumatol. 18, 205–216 (2022) 2022 doi: 10.1038/s41584-022-00761-z

Danve A & Deodhar A

In this review Danve and Deodhar report an update on modern axSpa treatment. They found that in the past two decades substantial progress in the diagnosis and management of axSpA has been witnessed. Whilst ASAS classification criteria have enabled earlier diagnosis the increased availability of novel therapies, evolving drug safety data and novel clinical trials have allowed clinicians to rethink the placement and timing of drugs in disease management.

Keywords:

• Review

Achieving pain control in early rheumatoid arthritis with baricitinib monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate versus methotrexate monotherapy

RMD Open. 2022;8(1):e001994 doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2021-001994

Taylor PC,

Alten R,

Álvaro Gracia JM,

Kaneko Y,

Walls C,

Quebe A,

Jia B,

Bello N,

Terres JR,

Fleischmann R

Post hoc analysis of the RA-BEGIN trial finds that, over a one-year period, patients treated with baricitinib (monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate [MTX]) report greater pain relief and a more rapid attainment of clinically meaningful thresholds of pain improvement, than patients who receive MTX monotherapy.Often overlooked, when treating RA solely to a disease activity target, patient-reported pain is common in RA, even in those reaching inflammatory remission. The fact that pain per...

Keywords:

• JAK,
• Baricitinib,
• Efficacy,
• Pain

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

Strand V,

Kaeley GS,

Bergman MJ,

Gladman DD,

Coates LC,

Sherif B,

Hur P,

Parikh B,

Gilloteau I,

Mease PJ

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...

Keywords:

• IL-17,
• Secukinumab,
• PRO / QoL,
• Phase 3

Baricitinib further enhances disease-modifying effects by uncoupling the link between disease activity and joint structural progression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Ann Rheum Dis. 2022. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221323

Lopez-Romero P,

de la Torre I,

Haladyj E,

Aletaha D,

Smolen JS

Baricitinib reduces structural damage progression versus placebo with background MTX and/or MTX, even in patients with moderate or high disease activity.In patients with RA, TNFi, IL-6i and rituximab have been shown to uncouple the link between disease activity and radiographic progression such that patients are protected from structural damage progression even if remission/low disease activity is not achieved.As such, Lopez-Romero, et al. aimed to evaluate if baricitinib further enhances diseas...

Keywords:

• JAK,
• Baricitinib,
• Efficacy,
• Radiographic

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

Fleischmann R,

Mysler E,

Bessette L,

Peterfy CG,

Durez P,

Tanaka Y,

Swierkot J,

Khan N,

Bu X,

Li Y,

Song IH

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. ...

Keywords:

• JAK,
• Updacitinib,
• Safety,
• Efficacy,
• LTE

Effectiveness of baricitinib and tofacitinib compared with bDMARDs in RA: results from a cohort study using nationwide Swedish register data

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keac068

Barbulescu A,

Askling J,

Chatzidionysiou K,

Forsblad-d'Elia H,

Kastbom A,

Lindström U,

Turesson C,

Frisell T

Data from the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register and Swedish Registries, show a higher treatment retention and overall equivalent or better treatment response on baricitinib, compared with bDMARDs or tofacitinib, but no statistically significant differences between tofacitinib and bDMARDs.In this largest population-based study to date, comparing RA patients initiating baricitinib, tofacitinib or bDMARDs, Barbulescu, et al. help to fill some of the current knowledge gaps surrounding the effica...

Keywords:

• JAK,
• Baricitinib,
• Real-World,
• Efficacy

Effect of dose adjustments on the efficacy and safety of tofacitinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a post hoc analysis of an open-label, long-term extension study (ORAL Sequel)

Clin Rheumatol. 2022 Jan 1. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1007/s10067-021-05908-z

Mueller RB,

Schulze-Koops H,

Furst DE,

Cohen SB,

Kwok K,

Wang L,

Killeen T,

von Kempis J

Post-hoc analysis shows that dosing up from tofacitinib 5 to 10 mg BID is associated with improved efficacy for up to 12 months, versus staying on 5 mg BID, and dosing down from 10 to 5 mg BID is not generally associated with a significant loss of efficacy.Although clinical trials have generally shown no significant differences, in terms of efficacy and safety, when switching tofacitinib dose up or down, these per-protocol switches are not directly informative for clinical decision-making in dai...

Keywords:

• JAK,
• Tofacitinib,
• Safety,
• Efficacy,
• Dosing

Pain Reduction in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Who Use Opioids: A Post Hoc Analysis of Phase 3 Trials of Baricitinib

ACR Open Rheumatol. 2021. Epub ahead of print. doi: 10.1002/acr2.11380

Pope JE,

Lee YC,

Curtis JR,

Mo D,

Xie L,

Dickson CL,

Schlichting DE,

Cardoso A,

Simon LS,

Taylor PC

This post hoc analysis shows that pain reduction was similar between opioid users and nonusers with baricitinib 2 mg and 4 mg, but not adalimumab.Use of opioids to treat RA-related pain has increased, yet long-term use has been associated with reduced efficacy and safety concerns. In addition, the misuse of opioids has resulted in a public health crisis in the United States and highlights the need for safe, effective nonaddictive alternatives for pain management. As such, Pope, et al. assessed p...

Keywords:

• JAK,
• Baricitinib,
• Efficacy,
• Pain

Inhibition of structural joint damage progression with upadacitinib in rheumatoid arthritis: 1-year outcomes from the SELECT phase 3 program

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021. Epub ahead of print. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab861

Peterfy CG,

Strand V,

Friedman A,

Hall S,

Mysler E,

Durez P,

Baraliakos X,

Enejosa JV,

Shaw T,

Li Y,

Chen S,

Song IH

.

Keywords:

• JAK,
• Updacitinib,
• Phase 3,
• Efficacy,
• Radiographic

Tofacitinib for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: a phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Ann Rheum Dis. 2021 Apr 27;80(8):1004–13.

Deodhar A,

Sliwinska-Stanczyk P,

Xu H,

Baraliakos X,

Gensler LS,

Fleishaker D,

Wang L,

Wu J,

Menon S,

Wang C,

Dina O,

Fallon L,

Kanik KS,

van der Heijde D.

A Phase 3 study assesses the efficacy and safety of tofacitinib in adults with active AS.Deodhar, et al. found that ASAS20 and ASAS40 response rate significantly increased with tofacitinib 5 mg BID versus placebo at Week 16, with improvements maintained to Week 48.There were no new safety signals detected over the course of the study....

Keywords:

• JAK,
• Tofacitinib,
• Phase 3