Publications

More RA patients on upadacitinib versus adalimumab achieved clinical remission, LDA, and DAS28 (CRP) <2.6. Radiographic progression was less with continuous upadacitinib versus continuous adalimumab. Upadacitinib showed similar safety to adalimumab, with higher incidences of HZ, lymphopenia, CPK elevation, hepatic disorder and nonmelanoma skin cancer.

The 1-year results of the SELECT-AXIS 2 study showed significant improvements in ASAS40 achievement in patients with nr-axSpA that were treated with upadacitinib 15mg QD versus placebo. Improvements in ASDAS endpoints, back pain, BASFI, and hsCRP from baseline were also observed.

The safety follow-up extension of the C-axSpAnd trial showed that long-term clinical outcomes from certolizumab pegol treatment achieved after 1 year were generally sustained at 3 years across MRI+/CRP+, MRI−/CRP+ and MRI+/CRP− subgroups.

Goldman, et al. conducted a pharmacovigilance study to evaluate the cardiovascular safety of JAK inhibitors in RA patients. The study demonstrated an increase in the reporting of VTE, stroke, and ischemic heart disease in patients treated with JAK inhibitor compared to bDMARDs, especially within the first year of treatment. This suggests a class effect of JAK inhibitors on cardiovascular risk, emphasising the need for ongoing surveillance and proactive cardiovascular risk management.

Burmester, et al. found that long-term filgotinib exposure was well tolerated in patients with moderate-to-severe active RA, with a stable rate of TEAEs over time. However, potential dose-dependent relationships for herpes zoster infections, malignancies and all-cause mortality were observed in patients aged ≥65 years, indicating the potential impact of age on the safety profile of Filgotinib. Therefore, some patients aged ≥65 years may benefit from the filgotinib 100 mg dose option.

Kwatra et al. found that risankizumab significantly improves clinical signs and symptoms of enthesitis and/or dactylitis in PsA patients, with substantial and sustained efficacy observed up to 52 weeks. Furthermore, these improvements were met by meaningful gains in patient reported outcomes.

Compared with placebo, bimekizumab-treated patients displayed a rapid clinically meaningful improvement in PsAID-12 scores at Week 4, which continued to Week 16 and was sustained to 1 year. Gossec et al. assessed 1-year bimekizumab efficacy from the patient perspective using the PsAID-12 questionnaire in bDMARD-naïve (BE OPTIMAL) and TNFi-IR (BE COMPLETE) patients with active PsA.

FitzGerald, et al. found that Deucravacitinib significantly impacted biomarkers associated with TYK2 signalling pathways of key inflammatory cytokines, including IL-23 and Type I IFN, and those related to collagen matrix turnover.

Crude gastrointestinal perforation (GIP) incidence rate was higher for the JAKi group compared with those receiving adalimumab, however rates of GIP did not differ between JAKi and adalimumab groups in the weighted and adjusted model. Hoisnard et al compared the risk of GIP in patients initiating treatment with JAKis or adalimumab among real-world patients with rheumatic disease.

Results of this analysis by Hernández-Cruz, et al. show that infections, herpes zoster and gastrointestinal AEs in patients with RA tended to be more frequent with JAKi treatment versus TNFi. They also found that treatment persistence was similar with JAKi and TNFi in patients with RA and axSpA, and only slightly higher for TNFi in patients with PsA.