Dr. David Karp, chief of the Division of Rheumatic Diseases at UT Southwestern Medical in Dallas, told Reuters Health the study is “well done,” with outcomes consistent with previous studies of the drug.
“In our clinical practice, (tocilizumab) is useful for the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have not responded to less costly agents,” he said by email.
“The data in this paper raise the question whether it is clinically important to use this drug as a first-line therapy,” Dr. Karp noted. “The economics of such a decision are not discussed in the paper, but have been (studied by) other groups. The safety issues were all expected and not particularly concerning.”
The study was funded by Roche, which markets the drug as Actemra. Two authors are employed by companies in the Roche Group, and five have received funding from Roche and other pharmaceutical companies.
Reference
- Burmester GR, Rigby WF, van Vollenhoven RF, et al. Tocilizumab combination therapy or monotherapy or methotrexate monotherapy in methotrexate-naive patients with early rheumatoid arthritis: 2-year clinical and radiographic results from the randomised, placebo-controlled FUNCTION trial. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017 Apr 7. pii: annrheumdis-2016-210561. [Epub ahead of print]
