The effectiveness of Olokizumab in treating rheumatoid arthritis
Reviewed by Dat Tien Nguyen, B.A, ScM. Posted on September 2nd, 2022
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease characterized by synovial inflammation with a hallmark of elevated IL-6 level. Some of the current treatment aims to block the IL-6 receptor on immune cells to reduce their activity; however, there has not been any agent, which targets the IL-6 ligand, approved for usage. Olokizumab, an antibody that targets 1 of the 3 epitopes expressed by the IL-6 ligand, had its effectiveness and safety assessed and reported in this study.
The 24-week long, phase-3, clinical trial randomly assigned 1,648 patients that are currently taking methotrexate into 4 treatment groups: 1) 64 mg of olokizumab every 2 weeks, 2) 64 mg of olokizumab every 4 weeks, 3) 40 mg of adalimumab (Humira, AbbVie) every 2 weeks, and 4) placebo every 2 weeks. The study wants to assess the percentage of patients in each treatment group who manage to achieve the American College of Rheumatology 20 (ACR20) criteria.
To achieve the ACR20 response, the individual must
Patients in the two olokizumab groups achieve ACR20 at a similar level: 70.3% and 71.4%. The performance of both olokizumab groups is much better than the placebo (44.4%), and similar to the group that was treated with adalimumab (66.9%). In terms of safety, infection is the most commonly reported adverse event: the adverse event rate is common between the four groups, ranging from 30.2% to 34.6%. Thus, we can see that olokizumab is a safe and effective treatment, and it is non-inferior to adalimumab.
The 24-week long, phase-3, clinical trial randomly assigned 1,648 patients that are currently taking methotrexate into 4 treatment groups: 1) 64 mg of olokizumab every 2 weeks, 2) 64 mg of olokizumab every 4 weeks, 3) 40 mg of adalimumab (Humira, AbbVie) every 2 weeks, and 4) placebo every 2 weeks. The study wants to assess the percentage of patients in each treatment group who manage to achieve the American College of Rheumatology 20 (ACR20) criteria.
To achieve the ACR20 response, the individual must
- Experience ≥20% fewer tender and swollen joints
- Experience ≥20% improvement in three of five other domains:
- Patient’s assessment of pain
- Patient’s perception of disease activity
- Physician assessment of physical function
- Patient’s assessment of physical function
- C-Reactive Protein value
- Patient’s assessment of pain
Patients in the two olokizumab groups achieve ACR20 at a similar level: 70.3% and 71.4%. The performance of both olokizumab groups is much better than the placebo (44.4%), and similar to the group that was treated with adalimumab (66.9%). In terms of safety, infection is the most commonly reported adverse event: the adverse event rate is common between the four groups, ranging from 30.2% to 34.6%. Thus, we can see that olokizumab is a safe and effective treatment, and it is non-inferior to adalimumab.