Impact of Methotrexate Discontinuation, Interruption, or Persistence in US Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Initiating Tofacitinib + Oral Methotrexate Combination.

Using data from real-world practice, this analysis compared outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) initiating treatment with an oral Janus kinase inhibitor, tofacitinib, in combination with persistent, discontinued, or interrupted treatment with oral methotrexate (MTX). This retrospective claims analysis (MarketScan® databases) included data from US patients with RA and at least one prescription claim for tofacitinib, dated between January 1, 2013, and April 30, 2017. Eligible patients were continuously enrolled for ≥12 months before and after treatment initiation, and initiated tofacitinib in combination with oral MTX, with at least two prescription claims for each. Patients were grouped according to treatment pattern (MTX-Persistent, MTX-Discontinued, or MTX-Interrupted). Tofacitinib treatment persistence, adherence, and effectiveness, as well as all-cause and RA-related health care costs, were assessed. A total of 671 patients were eligible for inclusion; 504 (75.1%) were MTX-Persistent; 131 (19.5%), MTX-Discontinued; and 36 (5.4%), MTX-Interrupted. Rates of tofacitinib treatment persistence, adherence, and effectiveness at 12 months were similar between the MTX-Persistent and MTX-Discontinued cohorts. The percentage of patients switched from tofacitinib to another advanced disease-modifying antirheumatic drug within 12 months of tofacitinib initiation was greater in the MTX-Persistent cohort compared with that in the MTX-Discontinued cohort. RA-related health care costs at 12 months post-initiation were significantly greater in the MTX-Persistent cohort compared with those in the MTX-Discontinued cohort. The findings from this analysis of real-world data indicate that patients who initiate tofacitinib in combination with oral MTX may discontinue MTX and still experience outcomes similar to those in patients who persist with MTX, with lesser RA-related health care costs. These results support those from a previous clinical study on methotrexate withdrawal in patients with RA (NCT02831855).

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Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Competing Interest Prof. Cohen has received research grants, consulting fees, or other remuneration from Pfizer Inc. Dr. Haraoui has received research grants from AbbVie; consultant's fees or other remuneration from AbbVie, Amgen, Eli Lilly, Merck, Pfizer Inc, and UCB; and has participated in speakers' bureaus for Amgen, Pfizer Inc, and UCB. Dr. Curtis has received research grants, consultant's fees, or other remuneration from AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CorEvitas LLC (formerly Corrona LLC), Eli Lilly, Janssen, Myriad, Pfizer Inc, Radius, Roche, and UCB. Drs. Woolcott and Gruben are employees of, and hold stock options in, Pfizer Inc. Drs. Smith and Murray were employees of Pfizer Inc at the time of this analysis. The authors have indicated that they have no other conflicts of interest with regard to the content of this article.