Palsson et al. aimed to estimate the prevalence and predictors of ever achieving remission and sustained remission (SR) in PsA patients initiating b/tsDMARDs therapy in Sweden, using three different remission criteria (DAPSA28, DAS28CRP and EGA). Palsson et al. found that despite increased availability and a wider selection of b/tsDMARDs with different modes of action, a considerable proportion of PsA patients receiving such treatments never achieve remission and approximately half never achieve SR. Fewer swollen joints at baseline predicted a greater likelihood of SR according to all assessed remission definitions, while male sex predicted the likelihood of SR according to DAPSA28 and EGA.

Merola et al. undertook a post hoc analysis of prospective cohorts that compared the effects of deucravacitinib vs placebo and vs apremilast on joint pain, and the impact of musculoskeletal symptoms, at Weeks 16 and 24 in the pooled POETYK PSO-1 and PSO-2 populations who self-reported joint symptoms on the PASE questionnaire. Patients who screened positively for PsA reported greater improvements in joint pain and peripheral joint disease with deucravacitinib vs placebo at Week 16 and vs apremilast at Week 24. Findings from this pooled analysis suggest that deucravacitinib may be used to treat both dermatologic and joint symptoms effectively in patients with psoriasis and probable arthritis.

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The SELECT-MONOTHERAPY study evaluated the safety and efficacy of UPA monotherapy through 260 weeks of treatment, in patients with RA who had prior inadequate response to MTX. No new safety signals were observed with long-term exposure to UPA, and results were consistent with prior findings and the established safety profile of UPA across indications. These data support the potential of UPA as a treatment option for patients with moderate to severe active RA who have responded inadequately to MTX.

Silvagni et al. aimed to comparatively assess the risk of cardiovascular events (CVE) in RA patients treated with JAKis or TNFis and to explore the interactions with patient profiles [including age, baseline cardio-cerebrovascular (CV) risk, and frailty, which is a state of decreased physiological reserve, assessed using a validated frailty index for Administrative Heathcare Databases (AHD)]. This AHD-based study highlighted no significantly increased risk of CVEs or MACEs for JAKis with respect to TNFis. The CV risk remains mainly driven by the patient profiles. The frailty, in parallel with baseline CV risk, emerged as an important determinant of CVEs, MACEs, and thromboembolic events (TEs). Frailty and baseline CV risk are key predictors of CVEs, MACEs, and TEs, and should be considered in both clinical assessment and trial design for RA patients on ts/b-DMARDs.

May 2025

Lin et al. compared the risk of CVD in patients with psoriasis who were prescribed biologics or oral therapies and assessed the association between different classes of biologics and CVD risk. Patients with psoriasis-prescribed biologics exhibited a reduced risk of incident CVDs compared with those receiving oral antipsoriatic drugs.

Poddubnyy et al. identified no apparent increase in the risk of developing extramusculoskeletal manifestations (EMMs) in patients with PsA, r-axSpA, and nr-axSpA receiving 15mg UPA in the SELECT trials. Majority of patients did not report a history of EMMs at baseline, regardless of disease indication or study treatment.

Phase 2 study data show that zimlovisertib + tofacitinib was more effective than tofacitinib alone, in patients with moderate-to-severe RA and an inadequate response to MTX.

Data from an international collaboration of registries show no evidence of an increase in CV events during the first 2 years of use with JAKi, compared to TNFi, in the general RA population.

April 2025

IL23is are associated with a lower risk of PsA incidence compared to IL17is in PsO patients, particularly in specific age, sex, and ethnic groups according to the latest real-world research from Yu S, et al.