Key clinical point: Baricitinib inhibited the progression of structural joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) even if they continued to have high or moderate disease activity (DA).
Major finding: Structural damage progression was not significantly different based on DA among patients with inadequate response to methotrexate (methotrexate-IR) receiving baricitinib ( P = .6), whereas a clear dependence on DA was observed among patients receiving placebo ( P = .02), with patients with moderate/high DA receiving baricitinib vs. placebo showing less disease progression ( P < .001).
Study details: The study included patients with established RA who were either methotrexate-IR ( RA-BEAM) or naive to conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs ( RA-BEGIN).
Disclosures: Eli Lilly and Company and Incyte Corporation provided funding for the RA-BEGIN and RA-BEAM trials. P Lopez-Romero, I de la Torre, and E Haladyj reported being employees of Eli Lilly and Company, and others declared serving as an advisor or speaker or receiving grants/contracts from various sources, including Eli Lilly.
Source: Lopez-Romero P et al. Baricitinib further enhances disease-modifying effects by uncoupling the link between disease activity and joint structural progression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022 (Feb 22). Doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221323