Post-hoc analyses of five completed phase II and III trials and an ongoing LTE suggested that BARI QD is well tolerated in East Asian patients with moderate-to-severe RA, with a similar safety and tolerability profile to the overall population.The majority of clinical evidence for RA treatments has been obtained from a predominantly Caucasian population, which may not be relevant to East Asian patients. In this post-hoc safety analysis, 740 Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean and Chinese patients were i...

November 2019

UPA 15 mg provided the optimal benefit-risk in RA through maximizing efficacy with only small incremental benefit with 30 mg, and with consistency across RA subpopulations and with UPA monotherapy or combination with csDMARDs. Exposure-response analyses were conducted using combined data from two Phase 2b and five Phase 3 studies in order to characterise the relationship between plasma exposure and efficacy, as well as to select safety parameters using the totality of the data in subjects with R...
PEF 50, 100, and 150 mg once daily was effective in treating active RA, without causing a significant risk for AEs.Intracellular pathways, including JAK and Tyk-2, are critical for immune cell activation, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and cytokine signaling. PEF has been developed for use in RA, but the comparative efficacy and safety of regimens and dosages has not been established. A Bayesian network meta-analysis was conducted to combine direct and indirect evidence to assess the rela...
Absolute serious infection rates were low. However, across the JAKinibs, the incidence of HZ is higher than expected for the population. While the risk was numerically greatest with BARI, indirect comparisons between the drugs did not demonstrate any significant difference in risk. How JAKinibs increase the risk of HZ reactivation is unclear, but how different JAKs interact in the immune response suggest that there may be differences in safety profiles between JAKinib drugs, underpinned by their...

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TOF significantly modulated the Th1 response to Varicella-zoster-virus (VZV). The poor VZV-specific cellular immune responses in patients with RA may be considered in recommendations regarding appropriate vaccination strategies for enhancing the VZV-specific Th1 response.Previous studies have shown that treatment with JAKinibs increases HZ incidence compared with conventional DMARDs. This cross-sectional in vitro study aimed to investigate the effect of TOF on the VZV-specific T cell immune resp...

August 2019

Peficitinib (PEF) 100 and 150 mg demonstrated robust clinical and structural efficacy in patients with RA who have an inadequate response to MTX. In Japan, two JAK inhibitors, TOF and BARI are currently available for RA patients with an inadequate response to conventional therapies. This randomized phase 3 study (RAJ4), assessed the efficacy and safety of two PEF doses in combination with MTX compared to PBO, in Japanese MTX-IR. Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to PBO, PEF 100 mg and 150 mg with M...
Among RA patients with an inadequate response or intolerance to bDMARDs, filgotinib (FIL) doses, compared to PBO resulted in significantly greater proportions achieving a clinical response at Wk12.Patients with active RA despite treatment with bDMARD therapy need treatment options. The FINCH 2 Phase 3 study compared the effects of FIL vs PBO for the treatment of RA patients with inadequate response or intolerance to ≥1 prior bDMARDs. Patients were randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio, receiving FIL 200 m...
UPA demonstrated superiority to ADA in terms of clinical, functional and patient-reported outcomes with comparable radiographic inhibition. As many RA patients fail to achieve LDA and remission with TNF inhibitors and MTX there is a requirement for additional treatment options. In this SELECT-COMPARE study the clinical and functional outcomes of UPA were compared to ADA in MTX-IR patients. 1629 MTX-IR were randomly assigned 2:2:1 to; UPA 15mg QD, ADA 40mg Q2W or PBO, with background MTX. Key end...

July 2019

Live zoster vaccine (LZV) was well tolerated, and herpes zoster (HZ) incidence rates were generally similar between treatment groups in vaccinated versus non-vaccinated patients in a subset of RA who received LZV before TOF ± MTX, or ADA + MTX, in ORAL Strategy. It is known that patient with RA are at increased risk of developing HZ though the mechanisms behind this are currently not well understood though therapies, such as TOF, are thought to increase the risk. ACR and EULAR recommend using LZ...

June 2019

UPA monotherapy showed statistically significant improvements in clinical and functional outcomes versus continuing MTX in MTX inadequate-responder patients with RA. Despite its proven effectiveness and safety, many patients are unable to tolerate MTX due to its side-effects. Therapies that can be used without concomitant MTX therefore, have an important place in RA management. In previous studies, UPA has shown efficacy in combination with stable background csDMARDs in RA patients who are DMARD...