The JAK inhibitor tofacitinib suppresses synovial JAK1-STAT signalling in rheumatoid arthritis

Ann Rheum Dis. 2014 Nov 14. pii: annrheumdis-2014-206028. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-206028. [Epub ahead of print]

Targeting intracellular pathways such as JAK/STAT represents a novel approach to the treatment of RA. Tofacitinib is an oral JAK inhibitor, proven to be effective in the treatment of RA, yet the pathways affected by tofacitinib and the effects on gene expression in situ are unknown. In this study, Boyle et al. tested the hypothesis that tofacitinib targets cytokine signalling critical to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid synovitis by investigating tofacitinib effects on synovial pathobiology.

June 2013

An Oral Spleen Tyrosine Kinase (Syk) Inhibitor for Rheumatoid Arthritis

The New England Journal of Medicine 2010; 363(14):1303-12

This is the first phase 2 study to be published for spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) inhibitor R788 (fostamatinib). This phase 2 study ingestigated the efficacy and safety of fostamatinib in patients with active RA despite long-term treatment with methotrexate. In this 6-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, patients were randomised to receive two doses of R788 (100 mg twice daily or 150 mg once daily) or placebo once or twice daily. Significantly more patients on R788 achieved ACR 20 respo...
This was the first phase 2 study to be published investigating the efficacy and safety of the spleen kinase (Syk) inhibitor R788 (fostamatinib) in patients with refractory rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 3-month trial, patients with active RA on stable background treatment (excluding biologics) were randomised to receive 100 mg R788 or placebo twice daily. Differences in ACR20 responses were significant at week 6 (p=0.003), but not th...
This phase 2 clinical trial assessed the influence of fostamatinib on patient reported outcomes (PROs) in 457 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and an inadequate response to methotrexate (MTX). Patients received either placebo or fostamatinib 100 mg twice daily or 150 mg once daily (1:1:1) for 24 weeks in addition to their baseline MTX. Patients taking fostamatinib 100 mg twice daily had statistically significant improvements in health-related quality of life scores for pain, patien...