New pan-European data presented at the British Society of Rheumatology's annual meeting in Liverpool demonstrate that patients treated with Enbrel® (etanercept) required significantly lower dose escalation than patients treated with infliximab and adalimumab in the first 12 months of therapy. The latter two anti-TNF agents (ATAs) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis are monoclonal antibodies while etanercept is a soluble TNF receptor.
The DART* study assessed current clinical practice in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis patients by comparing potential dose escalation in three selected ATAs and their associated costs of treatment.1 The results of the 44 European centre study showed that the dose escalation to maintain clinical response was less than 1 per cent with etanercept compared to 8 per cent with adalimumab and 29 per cent with infliximab in the first 12 months. In those study centres where there were no restrictions to prescribing ATAs, the results showed a 2 per cent dose escalation with etanercept versus 11 per cent and 35 per cent respectively, indicating that associated cost increments were negligible with etanercept.1
"The results of the DART study add to the body of evidence that etanercept achieves sustained efficacy without the need for dose escalation in 99 per cent of patients studied and thus demonstrates a cost effective treatment option for patients with rheumatoid arthritis over both the short and long term," said Professor Robert Moots, Professor of Rheumatology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom and DART study investigator. "The current perception of biological therapy for inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis is that it can be costly, however if the long term outlook and patient quality of life is taken into consideration, biologics such as etanercept are extremely cost effective. This is important both for physicians and patients as treatment can be maintained without the concern of rising cost increments."
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