August 2019

Effect of Filgotinib vs Placebo on Clinical Response in Patients with Moderate to Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis Refractory to Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drug Therapy: The FINCH 2 Randomized Clinical Trial

JAMA 2019 322(4):315-325

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...

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June 2019

Efficacy and Safety of Filgotinib for Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Naïve to Methotrexate Therapy: FINCH 3 Primary Outcome Results

EULAR 2019 Abstract LB0003 Presentation

Filgotinib is an orally administered, selective inhibitor of JAK1. Filgotinib has shown good efficacy and was well tolerated for the treatment of RA in Phase 2 and 3 studies evaluating MTX-IR or bDMARD-IR patients. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of filgotinib with and without MTX in patients with RA who were naïve to MTX therapy....

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May 2019

Safety and Efficacy of Tofacitinib For Up to 9.5 Years in The Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Final Results of a Global, Open-Label, Long-Term Extension Study

Arthritis Res Ther. 2019 Apr 5;21(1):89.

TOF 5 mg and 10mg BID demonstrated a consistent safety profile and sustained efficacy for up to 9.5 years in this open-label LTE ORAL Sequel study.TOF 5 mg and 10 mg BID demonstrated consistent safety (as monotherapy and combination therapy) and efficacy within this open-label LTE study of RA patients. As RA requires long-term treatment, it’s important to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of RA therapies to understand the potential lifelong impact on patient health and quality of life. Th...

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April 2019

Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and Herpes Zoster in Tofacitinib-Treated Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Immunotherapy. 2019 Mar;11(4):321-333.

The risk of TB and hepatitis B virus (HBV) appears to be no greater with TOF than with bDMARDs. Most cases of TB during TOF studies occurred in regions with high background rate of TB, including east Asian countries. TOF is also associated with a higher rate of herpes zoster (HZ) compared with bDMARDs. DMARDs used to treat RA can increase the risk of infections by causing a degree of immunosuppression. A range of bacterial and viral infections have been observed in association with DMARD therapy...

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March 2019

Network Meta‐Analysis of Tofacitinib versus Biologic Treatments in Moderate‐to‐Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

J Clin Pharm Ther. 2019 Jun;44(3):384-396.

This study suggests that many bDMARDs and tsDMARDs can be considered equivalent therapeutic alternatives in bDMARD-naïve RA patients, with inadequate response to csDMARDs.In the absence of randomised controlled trials comparing drugs, indirect comparisons and network meta-analysis may provide information to help select an optimal treatment alternative. In this network meta-analysis, 27 randomized controlled trials were analysed to assess the possibility that some drugs on the market may be consi...

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February 2019

Risk of Serious Infection in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in Routine Care with Abatacept, Rituximab and Tocilizumab in Denmark and Sweden

Ann Rheum Dis. 2019 Mar;78(3):320-327. DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-214326

Differences in baseline characteristics and numerical differences in IR of SI between ABA, RRTX and TOZ were observed. The relative risk (RR) of SIs seemed to vary modestly with drug.TNFi treated RA patients in large observational studies have suggested an initial twofold increased risk of SIs compared with biologic-naïve patients. Long-term observational studies on the risk of SIs in patients treated with non-TNFi bDMARDs are sparse.This study aimed to estimate crude as well as age and gender-a...

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Comparisons of Hepatitis C Viral Replication in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Receiving Tocilizumab, Abatacept and Tofacitinib Therapy

Ann Rheum Dis. 2019 Jun;78(6):849-850.

Tocilizumab (TCZ), abatacept (ABA) and tofacitinib (TOF) appear to have no major safety concerns for treatment of RA patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections.HCV is an infectious disease which continues to present a major therapeutic challenge for clinicians in treating patients with RA. Previous reports demonstrate that the use of TNF targeted therapies in RA patients with HCV infections appear to have no major safety concerns. During short-term therapy with TCZ and ABA, data has shown ...

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July 2018

Sarilumab for Previously-Treated Moderate or Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Evidence Review Group Perspective of a NICE Single Technology Appraisal

Pharmacoeconomics. 2018 Dec;36(12):1427-1437. doi: 10.1007/s40273-018-0677-7

In this National Institute for Health and Care (NICE) single technology appraisal of sarilumab (SAR) monotherapy and combination therapy with methotrexate (MTX), SAR was considered to have similar efficacy to other bDMARDs for treating moderate-to-severe RA with inadequate response to cDMARDs or TNFis. SAR was also considered a cost-effective use of National Health Service (NHS) resources versus some or all of its comparators in most considered populations.NICE is an independent organisation res...

Safety and Efficacy of Upadacitinib in Patients with Active Rheumatoid Arthritis Refractory To Biologic Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (SELECT-BEYOND): a Double-Blind, Randomised Controlled Phase 3 Trial

Lancet 2018;391:2513–24

Upadacitinib (UPA) extended release formulation was effective in treating patients with moderate-to-severe RA with an inadequate response to bDMARDs.Phase 2 study data has shown that UPA is an efficacious and safe treatment for active RA.1,2 SELECT-BEYOND was a double-blind, long-term extension, Phase 3 study to assess the efficacy of UPA in patients with RA who were bDMARD-IR. The first 12-weeks of SELECT-BEYOND were placebo-controlled, with a double-blind period followed by an ongoing double-b...

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June 2018

Patient Characteristics Influence the Choice of Biological Drug in RA, and will make non-TNFi Biologics appear more Harmful than TNFi Biologics

Ann Rheum Dis 2018; 77:650–57 DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-212395

Analysis of patient characteristics revealed that older and less healthy patients with RA were more likely to receive non-TNFi bDMARDs as a first bDMARD compared to other treatments.This study aimed to describe patient characteristics at initiation of bDMARD treatment at two-time points: first bDMARD initiation and switch to second bDMARD after TNFi treatment. The second aim of the study was to estimate the potential of treatment channelling to confound results in comparative treatment studies i...

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