He notes, “At 12 weeks in the trial, we saw nice improvement in 40% of patients getting to low disease in the 200 mg of filgotinib group and results looked even better at 24 weeks, when we saw just under 50% improvement in this group. To be able to take an active and refractory group and get 30% to remission outcomes at 24 weeks is an important endpoint for patients.”
Access Status
“We are anticipating that the sponsor of the filgotinib studies will file with the FDA,” Dr. Genovese says. In the interval, he notes the approval of upadacitinib by the FDA may provide another strong alternative treatment for patients with active and refractory RA.
“We have been fortunate that we have seen so much innovation in the field,” Dr. Genovese says. “Additional therapies now coming to market, such as upadacitinib, or those potentially coming to market in the near future should help treatment-resistant RA patients and earlier segments of the RA population.”
Carina Stanton is a freelance science journalist based in Denver.
References
- Staff. FDA approves AbbVie’s new rheumatoid arthritis drug. Reuters. 2019 Aug 16.
- Fleischmann R, Pangan AL, Song IH, et al. Upadacitinib vs. placebo or adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and an inadequate response to methotrexate: Results of a phase 3, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2019 Jul 9. [Epub ahead of print].
- Genovese MC, Kalunian K, Gottenberg JE, et al. Effect of filgotinib vs. placebo on clinical response in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis refractory to disease-modifying antirheumatic drug therapy: The FINCH 2 randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2019 Jul 23;322(4):315–325.
