August 2017

Treatment Persistence and Clinical Outcomes of Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor Cycling or Switching to a New Mechanism of Action Therapy: Real-world Observational Study of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients in the United States with Prior Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor Therapy

Adv Ther. 2017 Aug;34(8):1936-1952. doi: 10.1007/s12325-017-0578-8

This retrospective, observational study used a real-world US clinical database to demonstrate greater effectiveness of switching to a therapy with an alternative mechanism of action (MOA) vs cycling between TNF inhibitors (TNFis) in patients in which TNFi therapy has failed.Between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2015, a total of 613 of the observed patients failed a TNFi therapy and then either cycled to another TNFi therapy (54.2%) or switched to a therapy with an alternative MOA (45.8%). The most c...

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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Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis with Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor or Tocilizumab Therapy as First Biologic in a Global Comparative observational Study

Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2017 Oct;69(10):1484-1494. doi: 10.1002/acr.23303

To date, the comparative efficacy of tocilizumab and TNFi for patients with RA has only been investigated in a single head-to-head trial and network meta-analyses. This study, ACT-iON, is the first prospective, large-scale, global, multicentre, comparative effectiveness study comparing initiation of intravenous tocilizumab with initiation of a TNFi in patients with RA as the first-line biologic treatment after inadequate response to csDMARDs. Patients were observed in a real-world, clinical pra...

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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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Pathogenetic Insights from the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Lancet 2017;389:2328–37 DOI 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31472-1

This review paper examines the understanding gained from looking at the effects of specific immune interventions in the treatment of RA.The introduction of novel IL-6 agents has provided the ideal opportunity to explore the distinct effect of cytokine inhibition, as opposed to receptor inhibition, at the molecular level. Mechanistic insights into TNF could also be obtained in the future with advanced molecular and informatics approaches, and future biopsy studies will be important to explore the...

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Efficacy, Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics of Filgotinib, a Selective Janus kinase 1 Inhibitor, after Short-term Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results of Two randomized Phase IIA Trials

Arthritis Rheumatol. 2017 Oct;69(10):1949-1959. doi: 10.1002/art.40186

In two 4-week exploratory Phase 2a trials in MTX-inadequate responder (IR) patients with RA, the highly selective JAK1 inhibitor filgotinib met the primary endpoint of ACR20 at Week 4, showing greater response than placebo.Study 1, a proof-of-concept study, included 127 patients randomised to placebo, filgotinib 100 mg BID or filgotinib 200 mg QD. Study 2, was a dose-ranging study and included 91 patients randomised to placebo, filgotinib 30 mg QD, filgotinib 75 mg QD, filgotinib 150 mg QD or fi...

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June 2017

Biologics or Tofacitinib for People with Rheumatoid Arthritis Naïve to Methotrexate: a Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 May 8;5:CD012657. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD012657

This Cochrane systemic review and network meta-analysis looked at the benefits and harms of biologics or tofacitinib in patients with RA not previously treated with MTX.Using data from 19 RCTs including 6,485 participants, the review found that biologics (abatacept, adalimumab, etanercept, golimumab, infliximab, rituximab) in combination with MTX improved signs and symptoms of RA (ACR50) and increased the chances of remission (DAS <1.6 or DAS28 <2.6). There was also some evidence of an improveme...

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Filgotinib (GLPG0634/GS-6034), an oral selective JAK1 inhibitor, is effective as monotherapy in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: results from a randomised, dose-finding study (DARWIN 2)

Ann Rheum Dis 2017;76:1009–19

In these two Phase 2b studies, filgotinib (a selective JAK-1 inhibitor) was shown to improve the signs and symptoms of RA (compared with placebo), either as monotherapy or when added to MTX.DARWIN 1 included 594 patients with moderate to severe RA on a stable dose of MTX, while DARWIN 2 included 283 patients who stopped taking MTX before the start of the study. After 12 weeks’ treatment, significantly more patients who were receiving filgotinib 100 mg or 200 mg daily in DARWIN 1 or any filgotini...

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Filgotinib (GLPG0634/GS-6034), an oral JAK1 selective inhibitor, is effective in combination with methotrexate (MTX) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis and insufficient response to MTX: results from a randomised, dose-finding study (DARWIN 1)

Ann Rheum Dis 2017;76:998–100

In these two Phase 2b studies, filgotinib (a selective JAK-1 inhibitor) was shown to improve the signs and symptoms of RA (compared with placebo), either as monotherapy or when added to MTX.DARWIN 1 included 594 patients with moderate to severe RA on a stable dose of MTX, while DARWIN 2 included 283 patients who stopped taking MTX before the start of the study. After 12 weeks’ treatment, significantly more patients who were receiving filgotinib 100 mg or 200 mg daily in DARWIN 1 or any filgotini...

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