An Integrated Analysis of the Safety of Tofacitinib in Psoriatic Arthritis across Phase III and Long-Term Extension Studies with Comparison to Real-World Observational Data

Drug Saf. 2020 Apr;43(4):379-392. doi: 10.1007/s40264-020-00904-9.

Abstract

Introduction: Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Objective: Our objective was to compare the incidence rates (IRs) of adverse events in tofacitinib clinical trials and real-world observational data for alternative treatments.

Methods: The tofacitinib "dose-comparison cohort" included months 0-12 of two phase III studies (tofacitinib 5 [n = 238] and 10 [n = 236] mg twice daily [BID]); the "all-tofacitinib comparison cohort" (n = 783) included two phase III and one ongoing long-term extension study (data cutoff May 2016). An "observational comparison cohort" (n = 5799) comprised patients initiating a conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), biologic DMARD, or apremilast in the US Truven MarketScan database from 2010 to 2015. IRs for serious infections (SIEs; requiring hospitalization), herpes zoster (HZ), malignancies (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer [NMSC]), NMSC, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) across cohorts were qualitatively compared.

Results: IRs (patients with events/100 patient-years) for SIEs were similar between the tofacitinib dose-comparison cohort (5 mg BID: 1.3; 10 mg BID: 2.0) and the observational comparison cohort (1.1-7.9; treatment dependent). The tofacitinib dose-comparison cohort had a higher rate of HZ (5 mg BID: 2.0; 10 mg BID: 2.7) than did the observational comparison cohort (0.8-2.0). IRs for NMSC were generally lower in the all-tofacitinib comparison cohort (0.5) than in the observational comparison cohort (0.4-6.0). IRs for MACE, malignancies excluding NMSC, and NMSC were similar between cohorts.

Conclusion: In patients with PsA, tofacitinib had a safety profile similar to that of other systemic therapies in real-world settings, except for the risk of HZ, a known risk of tofacitinib.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01877668; NCT01882439; NCT01976364.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arthritis, Psoriatic / drug therapy*
  • Arthritis, Psoriatic / enzymology
  • Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic / statistics & numerical data*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / epidemiology*
  • Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / etiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Janus Kinase 3 / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Observational Studies as Topic / statistics & numerical data*
  • Piperidines / adverse effects*
  • Piperidines / therapeutic use
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / adverse effects*
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Pyrimidines / adverse effects*
  • Pyrimidines / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Piperidines
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Pyrimidines
  • tofacitinib
  • Janus Kinase 3

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01877668
  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01882439
  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01976364