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Humira plus methotrexate may help manage uveitis in patients with JIA
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SAN FRANCISCO – Patients with uveitis related to juvenile idiopathic arthritis may benefit from therapy with Humira and background methotrexate, according to a recently presented study.
Athimalaipet V. Ramanan, FRCPCH, FRCP, and colleagues studied a group of 90 patients aged between 2 years and 18 years with uveitis associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). During the presentation, Ramanan said in his presentation that the mean age of patients was 9 years, about two-thirds had oligoarticular arthritis and most had active disease for about 5 years.
At the time of study entry, all patients had active disease despite receipt of a stable dose of methotrexate for at least 12 weeks. Patients were randomized 2:1 to Humira (adalimumab, AbbVie) at 20 mg for patients who weighed up to 30 kg, 40 mg for patients who weighed 30 kg or greater, or placebo as a subcutaneous injection every 2 weeks and each continued methotrexate. Patients were treated for a maximum of 18 months and followed for 2 years after randomization.
The trial ended early for efficacy after an interim analysis showed predetermined parameters had been met. A positive treatment effect was observed in the patients treated with adalimumab, with an HR of 0.27. Adverse events were reported by 88.3% of the patients who received adalimumab and by 90% of patients in the placebo group. Serious adverse events, including 10 infection events, were observed by 13 patients who received adalimumab and two patients reported two serious adverse events, uveitis flares.
“We’ve shown a significant reduction in the number of treatment failures during adalimumab treatment compared to placebo,” Ramanan said. “Adalimumab is highly effective and results in meaningful improvements in patients with JIA and uveitis.” – by Shirley Pulawski
Reference:
Ramanan AV, et al. Paper #3L. Presented at: American College of Rheumatology Annual Conference. Nov. 7-11, 2015; San Francisco.
Disclosure: Ramanan reports the receipt of funding from AbbVie. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.