Key clinical point: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experienced robust pain reduction with baricitinib, irrespective of opioid use.
Major finding: Compared with placebo, pain reduction was significantly greater at all time points, starting as early as week 1 (all P < .05) in both opioid users and nonusers receiving 4 mg baricitinib and only in opioid users receiving 2 mg baricitinib. Opioid nonusers receiving 2 mg baricitinib showed greater pain relief than placebo starting at week 4 ( P < .05).
Study details: This was a post hoc analysis of 3 randomized controlled trials ( RA-BEAM, RA-BUILD, and RA-BEACON) involving patients with RA with an inadequate response to either methotrexate, conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, or at least 1 tumor necrosis factor inhibitor, who were randomly assigned to either placebo, baricitinib (2 mg/4 mg), or adalimumab (40 mg) in addition to background therapy.
Disclosures: This study was funded by Eli Lilly under license from Incyte Corporation. The authors declared no conflict of interests.
Source: Pope JE et al. ACR Open Rheumatol. 2021 (Dec 16). Doi: 10.1002/acr2.11380.