November 2023

Therapy with JAK Inhibitors or bDMARDs and the Risk of Cardiovascular Events in the Dutch Rheumatoid Arthritis Population

Rheumatology (Oxford) 2023 doi 10.1093/rheumatology/kead531 Epub ahead of print

Popa, et al. compared the incidence of CV events between JAKi and bDMARD therapies in a large RA population, and found no significant difference in CV risk between the treatment groups. They also compared CV risk between baricitinib-treated and tofacitinib-treated patients and found no significant difference.

more…

Risk of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Conventional Synthetic, Biologic and Targeted Synthetic Disease-modifying Antirheumatic Drugs: Observational Data from the German RABBIT Register

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37880180/

This study by Meissner, et al. estimated the effects of JAKi, TNFi, bDMARDs and csDMARDs on the risk of MACE in RA patients. The authors found no significant difference in MACE risk by treatment group, even among patients at increased CV risk.

more…

Effects of 1-year Tofacitinib Therapy on Angiogenic Biomarkers in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatology (Oxford) 2023; 62(SI3):SI304–SI312 doi 10.1093/rheumatology/kead502

This study by Kerekes, et al. investigated the relationship between tofacitinib therapy, angiogenic biomarker levels, and vascular inflammation and function in RA patients. The authors found that tofacitinib treatment reduced the production of bFGF, PlGF and IL-6, which may inhibit synovial and aortic inflammation.

more…

Global, Regional, and National Burden of Other Musculoskeletal Disorders, 1990–2020, and Projections to 2050: A Systematic Analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Lancet Rheumatol 2023;5:e670–82 doi 10.1016/S2665-9913(23)00232-1

As part of the GBD 2021, the authors provide updated estimates for the global burden of musculoskeletal disorders, excluding RA, osteoarthritis, low back pain, neck pain, and gout. In 2020, the total years lived with disability globally was estimated to be 42.7 million, which was a 122% increase from 1990. Over the same time period, mortality increased by 199%. The study forecasts an increase in cases by 2050 in all regions, with the exception of Central Europe.

more…

Risk of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disorders on Biologics and Small Molecules: Network Meta-Analysis

Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2023 Oct 9:S1542-3565(23)00767-X doi 10.1016/j.cgh.2023.09.033 Epub ahead of print

The results of this study show that anti-IL-12/23, JAK inhibitors, and anti-TNF-α were associated with slightly higher risk of MACE compared with placebo. The risk was no different between biologic treatments, and the magnitude of risk did not differ between IMID type.

more…

Tofacitinib Efficacy and Safety in Patients With Ankylosing Spondylitis by Prior Biologic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drug Use: A Post Hoc Analysis

ACR Open Rheumatol. 2023 Sep 29 doi 10.1002/acr2.11601 Epub ahead of print

In this post hoc analysis by Deoodhar, et al., the authors found that tofacitinib demonstrated greater efficacy than placebo in bDMARD-naïve and TNFi-IR AS patients. They also found that safety event rates for tofacitinib therapy were numerically higher in the TNFi-IR subgroup than the bDMARD-naïve subgroup.

more…

Bimekizumab Treatment in Patients With Active Axial Spondyloarthritis: 52-week Efficacy and Safety from the Randomised Parallel Phase 3 BE MOBILE 1 and BE MOBILE 2 Studies

Ann Rheum Dis. 2023 doi 10.1136/ard-2023-224803 Epub ahead of print

Baraliakos, et al. present data from two Phase 3 studies, BE MOBILE 1 and BE MOBILE 2, that investigated the clinical efficacy and safety of bimekizumab in axSpA patients. They found that bimekizumab had sustained and consistent efficacy in patients with nr-axSpA and r-axSpA.

more…

Gender-specific Differences in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis Receiving Ustekinumab or Tumour Necrosis Factor Inhibitor: Real-world Data

Rheumatology (Oxford) doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kead089.

Real-world data from the PsABio study indicated that females with PsA had more severe disease than males before the initiation of treatment. While both genders experienced treatment related improvements, fewer females than males were able to achieve a favourable disease state within 12 months. Treatment discontinuation and switching were also higher in females than males, due to lower efficacy and adverse events.      

more…

Long-term Safety of Guselkumab in Patients with Psoriatic Disease: An Integrated Analysis of Eleven Phase II/III Clinical Studies in Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis

Drug Saf. 2023 doi:10.1007/s40264-023-01361-w. Epub ahead of print

Data gathered from 11 phase 2 and phase 3 trials have shown that guselkumab has a favourable safety profile in treating psoriatic disease. The data were gathered from 4399 patients over 10787 patient years. In the placebo-controlled periods, guselkumab showed a similar safety profile to placebo, and this remained consistent and stable in the non-placebo controlled preiods.

more…

October 2023

Janus Kinase Inhibitor—Tofacitinib Associated with Pemphigus: An Analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System Data

Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2023;18:1-4 doi: 10.1080/14740338.2023.2248872 Epub ahead of print

This study presents initial data suggesting an association between the use of JAK inhibitors and pemphigus. This research used the FAERS database to investigate connections between JAK inhibitor usage and the occurrence of pemphigus as an adverse event.

more…