To compare the clinical efficacy of certolizumab pegol (CZP) with that of other anticytokine agents indicated for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with identical therapeutic indication (anti-tumor necrosis factor-α, anti-interleukin 1 or 6), with the objective of determining the noninferiority of CZP.
A systematic review was performed to identify randomized controlled trials that assessed the efficacy of anticytokine agents in combination with conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) after 6 months of treatment, using the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) response criteria, in patients with RA who have shown inadequate response to DMARD including methotrexate. Indirect treatment comparisons were carried out by a multiple-treatment Bayesian random-effects metaanalysis. Data were analyzed using the Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Noninferiority of CZP was assessed in comparison with a predefined equivalence margin of 5%.
Nineteen placebo-controlled studies were identified: 14 evaluated the efficacy of 5 anti-TNF-α agents (infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, golimumab, CZP) and 5 evaluated efficacy of 2 anti-interleukin agents (anakinra, tocilizumab). Every treatment showed significant efficacy versus placebo in individual studies. The multiple-treatment metaanalysis showed a highest OR for CZP on ACR20 response. Metaanalysis indicates that the efficacy of CZP according to ACR20 response is superior to that of infliximab, adalimumab, and anakinra, and equivalent or superior to that of etanercept, golimumab, and tocilizumab. According to ACR50 response, the efficacy of CZP is equivalent or superior to that of all other anticytokines.
Results of this original multiple-treatment Bayesian metaanalysis indicate that certolizumab pegol is at least as efficacious as the preexisting antirheumatic anticytokine biotherapies.