PHILADELPHIA -- Abatacept (Orencia) is effective against clinical symptoms and joint erosion in early rheumatoid arthritis for at least two years, researchers said here.
Among patients taking abatacept continuously for that length of time, 55% achieved disease remission, and 74% met American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for a 50% reduction in symptoms, reported Rene Westhovens, MD, of Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.
And Harry Genant, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, said that more than 90% of abatacept patients who had shown no radiological progression after one year continued to be free of new joint damage at the two-year evaluation.
Both researchers, speaking at the ACR's annual meeting, were reporting data from a one-year, open-label extension of a randomized trial called AGREE, which compared methotrexate monotherapy to abatacept plus methotrexate in patients with early-stage disease who had not previously received either drug.
Abatacept inhibits T cell activation, a unique mechanism of action among currently approved biologic therapies for rheumatoid arthritis.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/16595