medwireNews: Patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor baricitinib experience benefits for up to 3 years, researchers report.
These findings are based on a long-term analysis of data from two phase 3 randomized controlled trials – RA-BEGIN and RA-BEAM – and the RA-BEYOND long-term extension study. RA-BEGIN participants with an inadequate response to any treatment at week 24 were switched to open-label baricitinib 4 mg/day, while those given placebo in RA-BEAM switched to the JAK inhibitor at week 24; participants from both trials who took part in RA-BEYOND were all given baricitinib.
Click through for a guide to the clinical trials of baricitinib in RA
In patients from RA-BEGIN, rates of low disease activity (LDA; SDAI ≤11 points) at week 148 were 61% among the 159 DMARD-naïve patients treated with baricitinib throughout the study, 48% for the 210 who switched from methotrexate monotherapy to baricitinib, and 58% for the 215 who switched from methotrexate plus baricitinib to baricitinib alone.
Josef Smolen (Medical University of Vienna, Austria) and colleagues say that responses in patients initially given baricitinib “were maintained from week 24 through week 148,” whereas an “increased response” was seen in those switching from methotrexate.
They note that similar results were seen in patients with an inadequate response to methotrexate from RA-BEAM, with LDA rates of 59%, 61%, and 56% for those treated initially with baricitinib, adalimumab, and placebo, respectively.
These findings suggest that “[b]aricitinib 4 mg may be considered for long-term treatment of early and refractory rheumatoid arthritis,” conclude the researchers in Rheumatology.
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