Key clinical point: Herpes zoster (HZ) events occur in tofacitinib-treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but most of them are nonserious, mild, or moderate with HZ events resolving in most patients.
Major finding: Overall, 11.1% and 8.0% of patients with RA experienced at least 1 or recurring HZ events, respectively. Most events were nonserious, mild, or moderate in severity, with the majority of the first (97.6%) and second (96.8%) HZ events resolved in most patients. Tofacitinib treatment remained unchanged in 47.3% of patients with the first HZ event and was temporarily or permanently discontinued in 42.8% and 9.1% of patients, respectively.
Study details: The data come from a post hoc analysis of pooled data from 21 RA and 3 psoriatic arthritis (PsA) clinical studies involving 7,061 and 783 tofacitinib-treated patients with RA and PsA, respectively.
Disclosures: These studies were sponsored by Pfizer Inc. T Hirose, J L Rivas, and K Kwok reported being employees and shareholders of Pfizer Inc. Other authors reported receiving grant/research support and speaker/consultancy fees from various companies including Pfizer.
Source: Winthrop KL et al. Rheumatol Ther. 2021 (Dec 6). Doi: 10.1007/s40744-021-00390-0.