Impact of Concomitant Glucocorticoids on the Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Upadacitinib in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Ad Hoc Analysis of Data from Three Phase 3 Studies

Background: Glucocorticoid (GC) therapy has strong anti-inflammatory effects and helps slow radiographic progression in RA1; however, GCs can be associated with adverse events (AEs) such as infection, especially with long-term use and higher doses. Objectives: To evaluate the impact of baseline GCs on the efficacy and safety of upadacitinib (UPA) with or without concomitant conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs). Methods: In this ad hoc analysis of three Phase 3 studies, patients with inadequate response to MTX (MTX-IR) receiving UPA 15 mg once daily (QD) or placebo (PBO) + csDMARDs in SELECT-NEXT, and MTX-IR/MTX-naive patients receiving UPA 15 mg QD monotherapy or MTX monotherapy in SELECT-MONOTHERAPY/SELECT-EARLY, respectively, were included. Efficacy outcomes, including measures of remission and low disease activity (LDA) determined by DAS in 28 joints using CRP (DAS28[CRP]; Results: Of 1,506 patients included in the analysis, 737 (48.9%) were receiving baseline GCs (mean dose 6.2 mg/day). Baseline characteristics were broadly similar across treatment groups; SELECT-EARLY, which enrolled MTX-naive patients, generally had the shortest duration of RA and higher CRP levels. Across UPA treatment groups, concomitant GCs generally did not influence the proportions of patients achieving remission (Figure 1). In SELECT-NEXT, clinical responses with UPA 15 mg in combination with csDMARDs were similar irrespective of concomitant GC use (Figure 1). Within SELECT-MONOTHERAPY, responses in patients receiving UPA 15 mg without concomitant csDMARDs or GCs were higher than those in patients receiving MTX alone, but were numerically lower than in those receiving UPA 15 mg with GCs (Figure 1). However, this was not observed within SELECT-EARLY, where clinical responses in patients receiving UPA 15 mg monotherapy without GCs were higher than in those patients receiving UPA 15 mg with GCs for both DAS28(CRP) Conclusion: UPA 15 mg in combination with csDMARDs or as monotherapy was effective in achieving remission and LDA, irrespective of concomitant GC use. Safety of UPA, including incidence of infection, appeared largely unaffected by concomitant GC use. References: [1]Kirwan JR, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007;1:CD006356. Acknowledgements: AbbVie funded this study and participated in the study design, research, analysis, data collection, interpretation of data, reviewing, and approval of the publication. All authors had access to relevant data and participated in the drafting, review, and approval of this publication. No honoraria or payments were made for authorship. Medical writing assistance was provided by Frances Smith, PhD, of 2 the Nth, which was funded by AbbVie. Disclosure of Interests: Bernard Combe Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche-Chugai, Sanofi, and UCB Pharma, Consultant of: AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche-Chugai, Sanofi, and UCB Pharma, Frank Buttgereit Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Roche, Andrew Ostor Consultant of: AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Novartis, Paradigm, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB Pharma., Ricardo Xavier Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB Pharma, Consultant of: AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB Pharma, Alain Saraux Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chugai, Eli Lilly, Nordic, Sanofi, and UCB Pharma, Consultant of: AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chugai, Eli Lilly, Nordic, Sanofi, and UCB Pharma, Capucine DARIDON Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie, Kirsten Famulla Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie, Yanna Song Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie, Ivan Lagunes-Galindo Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie, Gerd Rudiger Burmester Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB Pharma, Consultant of: AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB Pharma