Efficacy and Safety of Opinercept Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor Therapy for Drug-Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Toong-Hua Liang; Chyou-Shen Lee; Shinn-Shing Lee; Chien-Sheng Wu; Kun-Hung Chen; Ping-Ning Hsu; Hsiao-Yi Lin

doi:10.46497/ArchRheumatol.2020.7464

Efficacy and Safety of Opinercept Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor Therapy for Drug-Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Arch Rheumatol. 2020 Jan 8;35(2):170-179. doi: 10.46497/ArchRheumatol.2020.7464. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Authors

Toong-Hua Liang¹, Chyou-Shen Lee², Shinn-Shing Lee³, Chien-Sheng Wu⁴, Kun-Hung Chen⁵, Ping-Ning Hsu⁶, Hsiao-Yi Lin⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei City Hospital Renai Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ National Taiwan University, Graduate Institute of Immunology, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Medicine, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of opinercept for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients undergoing disease- modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) therapy.

Patients and methods: A total of 98 patients with active RA (17 males, 81 females; mean age 58.6±12.2 years; range, 24.3 to 85.3 years) were randomized into opinercept plus DMARDs (OD group) or placebo plus DMARDs (PD group), in a 24-week treatment period. Primary outcome was American College of Rheumatology score (ACR20) at week 24. Other exploratory endpoints included ACR50, ACR70 and disease activity score-28 (DAS28) at week 12 and 24, tender/swollen joint counts, pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein level. Incidence of adverse events (AEs), vital signs and physical findings, and laboratory test results were also evaluated.

Results: Patients in OD group showed significantly higher achievement percentage of ACR20 at week 24 than the PD group (76.6% vs. 30.3%, p<0.001). The evaluation of DAS28 was significantly improved in OD patients compared to PD patients at weeks 12 and 24. Most of the occurred AEs were mild or moderate and considered unrelated to study treatments.

Conclusion: Opinercept concurrent with DMARDs was superior to DMARDs alone in slowing RA progression and ameliorating symptoms, with well- tolerated and acceptable safety profile.

Keywords: Clinical trial; disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs; opinercept; rheumatoid arthritis.