Patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with abatacept (Orencia) had similar rates of serious infection as patients receiving nonbiologic drugs, a study found.
Observed incidence rates for infections requiring hospitalization in double-blind studies were 3.05 per 100 patient-years for patients receiving abatacept and 2.15 per 100 patient-years for those receiving placebo (rate ratio 1.42, 95% CI 0.82 to 2.45), according to Teresa A. Simon, MPH, of Bristol-Myers Squibb in Lawrenceville, N.J., and a group of international colleagues.
In the cumulative experience, which includes the open-label extension phases of the clinical trials, the incidence rate was 2.72 per 100 patient-years -- falling within the range of expected values in cohorts of patients treated with conventional disease-modifying drugs (1.41 to 3.92 per 100 patient-years), the investigators reported online in Arthritis Research & Therapy.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are well known to suffer more infections than the general population, and some studies have suggested that the risk varies with different treatment.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/19773