CONTEXT: Publication of an RWR study in rheumatoid arthritis showing equivalent safety profile between a biologic DMARD and an oral Janus kinase inhibitor.
IMPACT: Low
READ TIME: 2 mins
Quality Level Mean [1 – 10]: 4
1. “The one adverse event in which a statistically significant difference emerged between the two was HZ (tofacitinib: 42 events, IR 1.44 [1.03-1.94]); bDMARDs: 78 events, IR 0.65 [0.52-0.81].”
2. “For MACE, SIE, and HZ, 1,999 (3,152 patient-years) and 8,358 (12,869 patient-years) patients were assigned to tofacitinib and bDMARD.”
3. “A closer look at the study data shows that rates of MACE, SIEs, malignancies, and death all are comparable among RA patients receiving tofacitinib versus those receiving bDMARDs.”
4. “In this study, the risk of HZ was greater in those taking tofacitinib than in those taking bDMARDs.”
5. “However, there were no serious HZ events in tofacitinib initiators in this study, which is again consistent with previous studies that found a low proportion of serious HZ events among those taking this medication.”
Source URL: https://www.medpagetoday.com/acrr/rheumatoidarthritis/92104