The efficacy and safety of Taltz in AS was demonstrated in two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 studies that included 657 adult patients with active AS: COAST-V in patients who are biologic disease-modifying
antirheumatic drug (bDMARD)-naive and COAST-W in patients who previously had an inadequate response or were intolerant to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors.
Among the 25 transplanted patients, none died during the extended follow-up, 2 experienced cardiac failure, and 23 remained off of any disease-modifying
antirheumatic drugs.
Methotrexate is the first-line disease-modifying
antirheumatic drug used in patients with RA (Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, September 2017).
In the last decade, there have been significant advances in the treatment of RA, especially for patients whose arthritis does not respond to conventional disease-modifying
antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
According to the company, the SPIRIT-P1 study evaluated the safety and efficacy of Taltz compared to placebo in patients with active PsA who had never been treated with a biologic disease-modifying
antirheumatic drug.
The findings are encouraging because patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a higher risk of developing shingles than other adults, and tofacitinib and certain other disease-modifying
antirheumatic drugs are thought to further increase this risk.
Most participants in the study had longstanding RA and were taking disease-modifying
antirheumatic drugs.
A human monoclonal antibody, Kevzara is indicated for use in patients who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to one or more disease-modifying
antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), such as methotrexate (MTX).
The average duration of RA among all participants was 17 years, and 58 percent of the participants were taking a disease-modifying
antirheumatic drug, such as methotrexate, sulfasalazine (Azulfidine), and hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil).
Researchers compared the health records of more than 11,000 RA patients taking TNFis with the records of about 3,000 RA patients taking synthetic disease-modifying
antirheumatic drugs (sDMARDs), another common RA treatment.
In this comprehensive review of 3,742 relevant publications, there was general agreement that initial treatment should center on disease-modifying
antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) plus systemic glucocorticoids.
Editor's Note: The authors remark that MK-7 is significantly less toxic than
antirheumatic drugs and it has the additional benefit of protecting against osteoporosis.