Publications

As part of the GBD 2021, the authors provide updated estimates for the global burden of RA. In 2020, approximately 17.6 million people worldwide had RA, with a 14.1% increase in prevalence since 1990. Mortality decreased by 23.8% from 1990 to 2020. The study forecasts an increase in cases to 31.7 million by 2050.

In this post hoc analysis by Deoodhar, et al., the authors found that tofacitinib demonstrated greater efficacy than placebo in bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR AS patients. They also found that safety event rates for tofacitinib therapy were numerically higher in the TNFi-IR subgroup than the bDMARD-naïve subgroup.

The efficacy and safety of updacitinib in bDMARD-IR patients with AS were sustained through to one year in an open-label extension of the SELECT-AXIS 2 study.

Fleischmann, et al investigated the safety and efficacy of otilimab versus tofacitinib and placebo in RA patients treated with MTX (contRAst 1) or csDMARDs (contRAst 2). They found that while otilimab achieved the primary endpoint of ACR20 versus placebo in Week 12, it did not demonstrate non-inferiority to tofacitinib.

Data from this phase 3 RCT demonstrated that the efficacy of bimekizumab observed at 16 weeks remained consistent through to 52 weeks in the treatment of bDMARD-naïve patients with PsA. Patients who started the trial on placebo and switched to bimekizumab at week 16 showed similar improvements to those patients who were randomised to receive bimekizumab at the start of the trail. No new safety signals were identified.

In the UPJOINT open label study, the proportion of patients with PsA, and an inadequate response to csDMARDs or bDMARDs, who achieved minimal disease activity with upadacitinib was in line with the results of previous studies at 24 weeks. No new safety signals were identified.

Findings from post hoc analyses extend the knowledge base for radiographic benefits of filgotinib in patients with RA.