September 2017

Herpes Zoster and Tofacitinib Therapy in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Arthritis Rheumatol 2014;66:2675–84

Patients who were treated with tofacitinib in the RA clinical development programme were more likely to develop herpes zoster than were those who received placebo.Cases of herpes zoster reported by investigators in the Phase 2, Phase 3 and long-term extension studies of tofacitinib were evaluated. Herpes zoster was noted in 5% of tofacitinib-treated patients; only 7% of these cases were serious, no patients with herpes zoster died and only 10% permanently discontinued tofacitinib treatment.The o...

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Patient-reported Outcomes from a Phase 3 Study of Baricitinib versus Placebo or Adalimumab in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Secondary Analyses from the RA-BEAM Study

Ann Rheum Dis 2017;76(11):1853-1861. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-211259

This paper describes the patient-reported outcome (PRO) data collected in RA-BEAM, a Phase 3 study of baricitinib compared with both placebo and adalimumab in patients with RA and an inadequate response to MTX.PRO measures evaluated include health-related quality of life (HRQOL), physical function, disability, fatigue, sleep, mental health status, work productivity and work activity impairment. The RA-BEAM study demonstrated that patients treated with baricitinib experienced a greater improveme...

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Safety and Efficacy of Baricitinib through 128 Weeks in an Open-label, Longterm Extension Study in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

J Rheumatol. 2018 Jan;45(1):14-21. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.161161

This open-label extension (OLE) of a Phase 2b randomised controlled trial (RCT) found that safety data collected over 2 years of treatment were generally consistent with previous findings for baricitinib in RA.In the RCT, baricitinib demonstrated significant improvement in disease activity compared with placebo and an acceptable safety profile in patients with RA and an inadequate response to MTX. Patients who completed the 24-week double-blind period of the study were eligible for the OLE. Rate...

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August 2017

Analysis of Non-melanoma Skin Cancer across the Tofacitinib Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Programme

Clin Exp Rheumatol 2017;35:614–22

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...

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July 2017

Long-term safety of tofacitinib for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis up to 8.5 years: integrated analysis of data from the global clinical trials

Ann Rheum Dis 2017;76:1253-1262. DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2016-210457

This analysis of exposure to tofacitinib, an oral JAKi for the treatment of RA, for up to 8.5 years allowed estimation of safety events with improved precision versus previous tofacitinib reports. Adverse events were generally stable over time; no new safety signals were observed compared with previous tofacitinib reports.Data were collated into an integrated safety summary of tofacitinib in adult patients with active RA, and included data spanning the tofacitinib clinical programme: from 2 Pha...

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Efficacy and Safety of Tofacitinib Monotherapy, Tofacitinib with Methotrexate, and Adalimumab with Methotrexate in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (ORAL Strategy): A Phase 3b/4, Double-Blind, Head-To-Head, Randomised Controlled Trial

Lancet. 2017 Jul 29;390(10093):457-468. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31618-5

In this first head-to-head non-inferiority trial assessing a JAKi ± MTX directly compared with a TNFi + MTX in patients with RA, tofacitinib (TOF) + MTX showed non-inferiority to adalimumab (ADA) + MTX. Non-inferiority was not shown for TOF monotherapy versus TOF + MTX, or versus ADA + MTX.In this 52-week study, MTX-inadequate responder (IR) patients were randomised 1:1:1 to receive TOF 5 mg BID monotherapy, TOF 5 mg BID + MTX or ADA 40 mg every other week + MTX. The primary endpoint, ACR50 resp...

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May 2017

Estimated Medical Expenditure and Risk of Job Loss among Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients undergoing Tofacitinib Treatment: Post Hoc Analyses of Two Randomized Clinical Trials

Rheumatology doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kex087

The results of this post hoc analysis of two Phase 3 studies of tofacitinib (TOF) show that improvements in health-related quality of life related to TOF treatment are likely to translate into significant reductions in estimated medical expenditure and likelihood of current and future job loss. Data from 399 MTX inadequate responder (IR) patients from ORAL Step, and 716 TNF inhibitor (TNFi)-IR patients from ORAL Standard were included in this analysis. Patients were receiving 5 mg or 10 mg TOF B...

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Discontinuation of Tofacitinib after achieving Low Disease Activity in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: a Multicentere, Observational Study

Rheumatology. Doi 10.1093/rheumatology/kex068

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...

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Tocilizumab Combination Therapy or Monotherapy or Methotrexate Monotherapy in Methotrexate-naïve Patients with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis: 2-year Clinical and Radiographic Results from the Randomized, Placebo-controlled FUNCTION Trial

Ann Rheum Dis Published Online First: 7 April 2017. Doi 10.1136/annrheumdis-20160210561

Burmester et al. present data showing that 52-week efficacy and safety of intravenous tocilizumab plus methotrexate, or tocilizumab monotherapy are maintained through to Week 104 in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Patients were assigned to four treatment groups: 4 mg/kg TCZ + MTX, 8 mg/kg TCZ + MTX, 8 mg/kg TCZ + placebo or placebo + MTX. Patients not achieving DAS28 ≤3.2 at Week 52 and who were not receiving 8 mg/kg TCZ were rescued to 8 mg/kg TCZ + MTX. Of the 1162 randomly assigned ...

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April 2017

Sarilumab improves Patient-reported Outcomes in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients with Inadequate Response/Intolerance to Tumour Necrosis Factor Inhibitors

RMD Open 2017;3:e000416. DOI:10.1136/rmdopen-2016-000416

Evidence is presented that treatment with sarilumab demonstrates patient-reported benefits in TNF-IR patients with moderate to severe RA. These improvements complement the clinical efficacy previously reported for sarilumab, and are consistent with those seen in the MOBILITY trial (MTX-IR patients)1, yet in a more difficult-to-treat population.Data were analysed from the 24-week Phase 3 TARGET randomised controlled trial in adult patients with active RA and previous inadequate response or intole...

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