Key clinical point: Long-term treatment with baricitinib was effective for up to 120 weeks and was well tolerated in patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with an inadequate response to conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or tumor necrosis factor inhibitor.
Major finding: In RA-BUILD-BEYOND and RA-BEACON-BEYOND, 85.1% and 86.5% of patients treated with baricitinib achieved Simple Disease Activity Index (SDAI) low-disease activity (LDA); 40.5% and 24.3% were in SDAI remission; 62.2% and 50.0% had Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index of 0.5 or less; and 81.1% and 73.7% achieved 0.22 or greater change from baseline at week 120, respectively. Rates of adverse events of special interest were similar as reported previously.
Study details: Findings are from the post hoc analysis of 2 24-week phase 3 studies, RA-BUILD and RA-BEACON. Patients who completed either trial entered the ongoing 120-week RA-BEYOND long-term extension study.
Disclosures: This study was supported by Eli Lilly and Company and Incyte Corporation. The authors reported receiving research grant, consulting/speakers fees, and/or honoraria from various sources. Five of the authors reported being employees and stockholders of Eli Lilly and Company.
Source: Wells AF et al. Rheumatol Ther. 2021 May 24. doi: 10.1007/s40744-021-00317-9.