VIDEO: Switching drug class can result in ‘home run’ response in rheumatoid arthritis
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DESTIN, Fla. — Switching to a different drug class with a different mechanism of action can improve response in patients with difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis, according to Janet Pope, MD, of Western University, in Ontario, Canada.
Pope made her comments, and expanded upon them in a presentation, at the Congress of Clinical Rheumatology East.
“This is not always the case, but in general, if someone is a secondary loss of response, say to a TNF inhibitor, or they stop it because of a side effect, or even a primary non-responder, in general I tend to move out of class,” Pope told Healio. “ACR and EULAR guidelines would suggest we could stay in class or go out of class, but in general a homerun, like a deep response and a sustained response are better in [randomized clinical trials] if you go TNF to something else — a different mechanism — than if you go TNF to TNF.”
She added that there is an unmet need for data on switching from one JAK inhibitor to another JAK inhibitor.
“I just talked about going out of class, but we know, for instance in Australia, 40% of prescriptions for rheumatoid arthritis, for a JAK inhibitor, are a second JAK,” Pope said. “So, we need more data on switching, but right now I think the best data are once we use one product in a class, try another class. You might go back later to that one but try another.”
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Healio Interview
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