In a post-marketing safety study, tofacitinib did not prove non-inferior to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors when evaluated for its long-term effects on heart disease, malignancies and serious infections in RA patients.
An observational study found treatment with tofacitinib resulted in only a slightly higher rate of venous thromboembolism than tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLO.—Janus kinase inhibitors—or Jakinibs—are a relatively new class of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) that perform well and have a safety profile comparable to biologics. This group of drugs was the subject of The New Frontier: Comparative Safety of JAK Inhibitors, a presentation given at the ACR Winter Symposium by Kevin L. Winthrop, MD,…
(Reuters Health)—The live herpes zoster vaccine does not provide reliable long-term protection in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients taking tofacitinib, a recent study suggests. Current ACR guidelines conditionally recommend that patients with RA who are 50 years and older be vaccinated against herpes zoster prior to starting therapy with the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor tofacitinib or…
Over the past few years, biosimilars and other new drugs have been introduced to treat rheumatic illnesses. Some of the conditions we treat have numerous drug options, others have few or only off-label options. This series, “Rheumatology Drugs at a Glance,” provides streamlined information on the administration of biologic, biosimilar and small molecule inhibitor drugs…
RA patients who achieve low disease activity on tofacitinib and methotrexate combination therapy can safely cease methotrexate use, according to recent research…