Introduction: Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA). This post hoc analysis assessed the efficacy of tofacitinib using pooled data from two phase 3 studies of patients with active PsA.
Methods: Data were pooled from OPAL Broaden (NCT01877668) and OPAL Beyond (NCT01882439). Patients had active PsA and either an inadequate response (IR) to ≥ 1 conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (csDMARD) and were tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi)-naïve (OPAL Broaden), or had IR to ≥ 1 TNFi (OPAL Beyond). Pooled data included tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg twice daily (BID; to month 6) and placebo (to month 3; patients then switched to tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg BID). Patients also received one background csDMARD. Endpoints included American College of Rheumatology (ACR)20 response and change from baseline in Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) at month 3 (primary endpoints), ACR50/70 response, HAQ-DI response (decrease from baseline ≥ 0.35) and improvements in painful and swollen joint counts, psoriasis, enthesitis and dactylitis to month 6.
Results: A total of 710 patients were included (tofacitinib 5 mg BID: 238; tofacitinib 10 mg BID: 236; placebo: 236). Primary endpoints showed significant improvements at month 3 in patients receiving tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg BID vs. placebo. Significant improvements in HAQ-DI response, painful and swollen joints, psoriasis, enthesitis and dactylitis vs. placebo were observed for both tofacitinib doses at month 3. Efficacy was maintained to month 6 (final pooled time point).
Conclusions: In a pooled analysis of csDMARD-IR/TNFi-naïve and TNFi-IR patients, tofacitinib was superior to placebo at month 3 across four PsA domains: peripheral arthritis, psoriasis, enthesitis and dactylitis.
Trial registration: OPAL Broaden (NCT01877668); OPAL Beyond (NCT01882439).
Funding: Pfizer Inc.
Keywords: Janus kinase inhibitor; Psoriatic arthritis; Spondyloarthritis; Tofacitinib; Treatment.