The results of ORAL Sequel suggest that the live zoster vaccine (LZV) may not provide adequate long-term protection in patients with RA receiving TOF. This LTE study enrolled 100 patients with RA, 14 weeks post LZV vaccination. Patients received either TOF 5 mg BID, or TOF 10 mg BID in addition to any background csDMARDs. Incidence rates and 95% CIs for HZ post-vaccination were calculated based on time to first event. Short-term varicella zoster vaccine (VZV) specific immunity was evaluated at ...

November 2019

Absolute serious infection rates were low. However, across the JAKinibs, the incidence of HZ is higher than expected for the population. While the risk was numerically greatest with BARI, indirect comparisons between the drugs did not demonstrate any significant difference in risk. How JAKinibs increase the risk of HZ reactivation is unclear, but how different JAKs interact in the immune response suggest that there may be differences in safety profiles between JAKinib drugs, underpinned by their...

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May 2019

How JAKinibs increase the risk of HZ reactivation is unclear. Roles of different JAKs in the immune response may suggest differences in safety profiles between drugs, underpinned by their differential JAK selectivity profiles. The authors undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate SI and opportunistic indicator infections including HZ in RA Phase II/III clinic trials with JAKinibs. A literature review of RCT of TOF (5 mg BID), BARI (4 mg OD) and UPA (15 mg OD) was conducted. A p...
Approximately two thirds of long-term BARI treated patients achieved satisfactory humoral and functional responses to 13-serotype pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-13), whereas tetanus toxoid vaccine (TTV) responses were less robust. Both RA management guidelines and recommendations suggest vaccinating patients with RA against pneumococcal disease with PCV-13 and PPSV-23. The inhibition of the JAK mediated signal transduction pathways in RA treatment could diminish vaccine responses. Given the...

March 2019

In this integrated analysis, BARI showed an acceptable safety profile in Japanese patients with up to 3.2 years of exposure. Other than incidences of herpes zoster (HZ), no major differences were noted with BARI safety in Japanese patients with RA, compared to the patients in the integrated database.BARI has previously demonstrated significant clinical efficacy and acceptable safety. Japanese patients who participated in the BARI clinical development programme, were comparable to those from the ...

November 2017

The results of this analysis of patients with herpes zoster (HZ) within the global tofacitinib (TOF) RA programme suggest that there is likely to be a greater HZ risk in patients receiving TOF and glucocorticoids compared with patients receiving TOF monotherapy.The global TOF RA development programme comprised 2 Phase 1, 9 Phase 2, 6 Phase 3 and 2 long-term extension studies. These studies included 6192 patients; data were reviewed to identify cases of HZ. Crude incidence rates of number of pati...

September 2017

Patients with RA who started treatment with tofacitinib 2–3 weeks after being vaccinated against herpes zoster had similar varicella zoster virus (VZV)-specific humoral and cell-mediated responses to the live vaccine compared to patients who received placebo.In this Phase 2 study, humoral and cell-mediated immune responses were evaluated before receipt of live zoster vaccine (LZV) and at 2, 6 and 14 weeks after vaccination, having been randomised to tofacitinib 5 mg BID or placebo, 2–3 weeks aft...
Patients who were treated with tofacitinib in the RA clinical development programme were more likely to develop herpes zoster than were those who received placebo.Cases of herpes zoster reported by investigators in the Phase 2, Phase 3 and long-term extension studies of tofacitinib were evaluated. Herpes zoster was noted in 5% of tofacitinib-treated patients; only 7% of these cases were serious, no patients with herpes zoster died and only 10% permanently discontinued tofacitinib treatment.The o...

July 2017

This analysis of exposure to tofacitinib, an oral JAKi for the treatment of RA, for up to 8.5 years allowed estimation of safety events with improved precision versus previous tofacitinib reports. Adverse events were generally stable over time; no new safety signals were observed compared with previous tofacitinib reports.Data were collated into an integrated safety summary of tofacitinib in adult patients with active RA, and included data spanning the tofacitinib clinical programme: from 2 Pha...

April 2015

The effect of tofacitinib on pneumococcal and influenza vaccine responses in rheumatoid arthritis

Ann Rheum Dis. 2015 Mar 20. pii: annrheumdis-2014-207191. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-207191. [Epub ahead of print]

The increased risk of serious infection among RA patients means vaccinations against pneumococcus and influenza are recommended in this group of patients. Studies evaluating immune response to these vaccines in conjunction with DMARD therapy can provide clinicians with important information relating to things such as timing of vaccination.

This study aimed to assess the effect of tofacitinib on vaccine responses to PPSV-23 and the trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine in those whom tofacit...