Golimumab Treatment Retention Comparison: RA, AxSpA, and PsA

A study retrospectively compared rates of treatment retention with golimumab among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

“Retention of biological treatment provides a marker of drug effectiveness and patient satisfaction. Retention of golimumab was high in clinical trial extensions and real-world studies up to 5 years in patients with immune-mediated rheumatic diseases,” the study authors explained.

They collected data from BIOBADASER, a Spanish biological drugs registry, on adult patients who had ever received golimumab for RA, AxSpA, or PsA with initiation at least six months prior to data collection.

There were 685 patients altogether. The cohort was primarily AxSpA (42.9%), followed by PsA (28.6%) and RA (28.5%). When looking at the entire group, the probabilities of golimumab treatment retention from the time of initiation were: year 1, 71.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 68.1-74.9); year 2, 60.5% (95% CI, 56.5-64.2); year 3, 55.6^ (95% CI, 51.-5-59.5); year 4, 50.6% (95% CI, 46.2-54.8); year 5, 45.1% (95% CI, 40.1-50); year 6, 44.2% (95% CI, 39-49.3); and year 7, 39.5% (95% CI, 32.8-46.2).

Compared to patients with RA, those with AxSpA or PsA had higher rates of retention (P<0.001). Further, retention rates were higher when golimumab was a first-line treatment instead of third or later (P<0.001). Upon Cox regression analyses, use as first-line biological therapy, having AxSpA or PsA (instead of RA), and concomitant methotrexate therapy were all correlated with increased golimumab retention, while steroid use reduced retention.

The study was published in Clinical Rheumatology.

Despite lower odds of retention among patients with RA, a long-term registry study evaluating the effectiveness of golimumab and intravenous (IV) golimumab in patients with RA, published in 2020, found both were effective options.

In this study, overtime, baseline disease duration, tender joint count based on 28 joints, swollen joint count based on 28 joints, Disease Activity Score 28, Health Assessment Questionnaire Disease Index, patient and physician global assessment of disease activity, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and morning stiffness all significantly decreased. All disease parameters improved over the course of the study period. Adverse events rates per 100 person years were 113, and 82.6 in the golimumab and golimumab-IV patients, respectively.