Key clinical point: Approximately two-thirds of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving 15 mg upadacitinib and methotrexate attained a satisfactory humoral response to pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine (PCV-13) through 12 weeks postvaccination.
Major finding: At 4 weeks, 67.5% (95% CI 57.4%-77.5%) of patients receiving 15 mg upadacitinib and methotrexate attained a satisfactory humoral response to PCV-13, which was sustained until week 12 ( 64.6%; 95% CI 54.0%-75.1%), with response being similar irrespective of concomitant corticosteroids. Adverse events were mostly mild in severity.
Study details: Findings are from a phase 2 open-label extension trial, Balance-Extend, including 111 patients with RA receiving a stable dose of 15 mg upadacitinib (n = 87) or 30 mg (n = 24) once daily with background methotrexate who were administered PCV-13.
Disclosures: This study was supported by AbbVie. A Friedman, B Hendrickson, Y Li, and J Klaff reported being employees or shareholders of AbbVie, and others declared serving as editorial board members or receiving grants, consulting fees, or honoraria from various sources, including AbbVie.
Source: Winthrop K et al. Evaluation of response to 13-valent conjugated pneumococcal vaccination in patients with rheumatoid arthritis receiving upadacitinib: Results from a phase 2 open-label extension study. RMD Open. 2022;8:e002110 (Mar 4). Doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2021-002110