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1-year certolizumab pegol add-on therapy effective for RA
One year of certolizumab pegol add-on therapy to 2-year methotrexate treatment led to radiographic and clinical improvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis after 2 years, according to a recently published analysis.
“Overall, these results suggest that patients with early [rheumatoid arthritis] RA would benefit from the addition of [certolizumab] CZP to [methotrexate] MTX therapy during the early stages of disease, particularly with respect to the prevention of joint destruction,” Tatsuya Atsumi, MD, from the Graduate School of Medicine at Hokkaido University, and colleagues wrote.
Researchers assessed 159 patients who MTX plus CZP and 157 who MTX plus placebo for 52 weeks. After 52 weeks, all patients received methotrexate alone for another 52 weeks and patients who flared could receive open-label CZP.
From week 52 to 104, inhibition of modified total Sharp score progression occurred in the group compared with placebo (84.2% vs. 67.5%). After 104 weeks, there were higher remission rates for the CZP group compared with placebo in terms of SDAI (41.5% vs. 29.3), Boolean remission (34.6% vs. 24.2%) and DAS28 remission (41.5% vs. 33.1%). , the adverse event incidence was similar between groups.
“Although this aggressive therapeutic strategy would not be recommended for all patients, it may be a potential option for those patients with a high risk of experiencing rapid joint destruction,” the researchers wrote. “How to identify these patients at disease onset requires further investigation.” – by Will A. Offit
Disclosures: Atsumi reports having taken part in speakers bureaus for Astellas, Bristol-Myers, Chugai and Mitsubishi-Tanabe.