Tocilizumab and rituximab have similar effectiveness and are both superior to a second tumour necrosis factor inhibitor in rheumatoid arthritis patients who discontinued a first TNF inhibitor.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed a significantly higher drug retention for TCZ and RTX, compared with 2nd TNFi, and similar persistence among TCZ and RTX, in patients who discontinued a first-line TNFi. These data corroborate the notion that switching to a biologic with a different mode of action is more effective than to a second TNFi.
PMID: 31243259 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Acta Reumatologica Portuguesa - May 14, 2019 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Santos-Faria D, Tavares-Costa J, Eusébio M, Leite Silva J, Ramos Rodrigues J, Sousa-Neves J, Duarte AC, Lopes C, Valido A, Dinis J, Freitas J, Santiago M, Ferreira R, Ganhão S, Miranda L, Peixoto D, Teixeira F, Alcino S, Afonso C, Santos MJ Tags: Acta Reumatol Port Source Type: research