Objective: The efficacy and safety of abatacept in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who experienced an inadequate response to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were previously established in a phase III study that included a 4-month open-label lead-in period, a 6-month double-blind withdrawal period, and a long-term extension (LTE) phase. The aim of this study was to present the safety, efficacy, and patient-reported outcomes of abatacept treatment (10 mg/kg every 4 weeks) during the LTE phase, for up to 7 years of followup.
Methods: Patients enrolled in the phase III trial could enter the open-label LTE phase if they had not achieved a response to treatment at month 4 or if they had received abatacept or placebo during the double-blind period.
Objective: We previously documented that abatacept was effective and safe in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who had not previously achieved a satisfactory clinical response with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or tumor necrosis factor blockade. Here, we report results from the long-term extension (LTE) phase of that study.
Methods: This report describes the long-term, open-label extension phase of a double-blind, randomized, controlled withdrawal trial in 190 patients with JIA ages 6-17 years.
Background: Some children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis either do not respond, or are intolerant to, treatment with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, including anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) drugs. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of abatacept, a selective T-cell costimulation modulator, in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who had failed previous treatments.
Methods: We did a double-blind, randomised controlled withdrawal trial between February, 2004, and June, 2006.