In a long-term extension of two phase III studies assessing the safety and efficacy of canakinumab (a fully human anti-IL-1β monoclonal antibody) in patients with active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), treatment efficacy at 6 months was maintained for up to 5 years. No new safety findings were reported and treatment was associated with glucocorticoid discontinuation or substantial reduction in glucocorticoid dose. Overall, 102 patients (58%) discontinued canakinumab, mainly because of treatment inefficacy. A higher rate of discontinuation was noted for late responders than for early responders (81% versus 29%), indicating that early response is a predictive factor of long-term outcome.
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Ruperto, N. et al. Canakinumab in patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and active systemic features: results from the 5-year long-term extension of the phase III pivotal trials. Ann. Rheum. Dis. https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-213150 (2018)
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McHugh, J. Long-term safety of canakinumab in systemic JIA. Nat Rev Rheumatol 14, 622 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-018-0104-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-018-0104-7
