Results of a 12-Week Open-Label, Non-Interventional Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Olokizumab Therapy in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis after Switching from Anti-B-Cell Therapy during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.

Unlabelled: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the understanding of the safety profile of therapies for immunoinflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRDs). This is primarily due to the negative impact of a number of basic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and genetically engineered biological drugs (biological DMARDs, or biologics) on the course and outcomes of a new coronavirus infection. A number of studies have shown that anti-B-cell therapy (rituximab) gave a statistically significant increase in the risk of severe COVID-19 and an increase in mortality.

[Immuno-inflammatory rheumatic diseases and COVID-19: analysis of clinical outcomes according to the data of the register of patients of the Novosibirsk region receiving therapy with genetically engineered biological drugs].

Background: Currently, observations are accumulating indicating the negative effect of therapy with a number of biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) drugs on the course of COVID-19. These facts determine the relevance of studying the factors of severe course and unfavorable outcome in immuno-inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IIRD) patients treated with bDMARDs in order to develop tactics for managing this category of patients in a pandemic.

Aim: To evaluate the influence of clinical and demographic factors on the risk of development, severity of the course and clinical outcomes of a new coronavirus infection in patients suffering from IIRD and receiving therapy with genetically engineered biological drugs.