Patient treatment history and physician reasons for canakinumab initiation were analyzed.

Treatment with the IL-1β inhibitor canakinumab does not improve the likelihood of survival without invasive mechanical ventilation among hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 and systemic hyperinflammation, suggest findings from the CAN-COVID trial.

Preliminary data suggest that the interleukin-1β inhibitor canakinumab may warrant further investigation as a treatment option for patients with COVID-19 who experience a hyper-inflammatory response.

Canakinumab monotherapy tapering, either through dose reduction or dose interval prolongation, is feasible in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis who achieve clinical remission, study findings indicate.

medwireNews : The US FDA has expanded the indication for the interleukin (IL)-1 inhibitor canakinumab to include adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD).

Response to canakinumab therapy is sustained or even improved for up to 5 years in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, with no new safety signals, according to the results of a long-term extension study published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases .

The study included data for 66 individuals with a DRESS-like delayed hypersensitivity reaction (DHR) to anakinra, canakinumab, rilonacept, and/or tocilizumab as well as 65 drug-tolerant Still’s controls from 37 centers in the USA, Canada, and Australia.

In the introductory podcast for our series on repurposing rheumatology drugs for COVID-19, Jinoos Yazdany discusses the rationale behind investigating these agents and explores the role of rheumatologists in ensuring they are studied as safely and efficiently as possible (13:07).

In the introductory podcast for our series on repurposing rheumatology drugs for COVID-19, Jinoos Yazdany discusses the rationale behind investigating these agents and explores the role of rheumatologists in ensuring they are studied as safely and efficiently as possible (13:07).

Treatment with the IL-1β inhibitor canakinumab is associated with a reduced incidence of total joint replacement, suggests an exploratory analysis of the CANTOS trial.

Treatment with the IL-1β inhibitor canakinumab is associated with a reduced incidence of total joint replacement, suggests an exploratory analysis of the CANTOS trial.

Administration of canakinumab, an interleukin-1β inhibitor, every 3 months is associated with a significantly reduced risk for gout, without lowering serum uric acid levels, shows a secondary exploratory analysis of the CANTOS trial.

Administration of canakinumab, an interleukin-1β inhibitor, every 3 months is associated with a significantly reduced risk for gout, without lowering serum uric acid levels, shows a secondary exploratory analysis of the CANTOS trial.

At baseline, patients had been taking biologics – most commonly etanercept (61.6%), followed by adalimumab (19.5%), anakinra (7.2%), tocilizumab (4.2%), canakinumab (3.9%), and infliximab (3.6%) – for an average of 42.1 months.

They add that considering the high costs associated with canakinumab – the only IL-1 inhibitor currently approved for gout in Europe – anakinra may provide “a cost-effective alternative for gout patients seen in daily practice who are difficult to treat with conventional therapies.”

Solomon DH et al.  Ann Intern Med  2018. doi: 10.7326/M18-1167