Key clinical point: Patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with baricitinib monotherapy or baricitinib plus methotrexate vs. methotrexate monotherapy (MM) experienced significantly greater and more rapid pain relief along with more weeks of limited to no pain.
Major finding: Patients treated with baricitinib monotherapy or baricitinib+methotrexate vs. MM reported a significant improvement in pain as early as 2 weeks with sustained improvements and an additional 9-10 weeks of pain-free life over the 52-week treatment period (all P < .001).
Study details: This was a post hoc analysis of the phase 3 study, RA-BEGIN including 588 patients with early RA randomly assigned to receive MM, baricitinib monotherapy, or baricitinib+methotrexate for 52 weeks.
Disclosures: This work was sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company under license from Incyte Corporation. Five authors declared being employees or shareholders of Eli Lilly and Company, and some others declared receiving research grants, consultation fees, honoraria, or speaking fees from various sources, including Eli Lilly and Company.
Source: Taylor PC et al. Achieving pain control in early rheumatoid arthritis with baricitinib monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate versus methotrexate monotherapy. RMD Open. 2022;8:e001994 (Mar 9). Doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2021-001994