Background: Identification of predictors of clinical response to certolizumab-pegol (certolizumab) may aid the decision-making process for treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthritis (SpA), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of certolizumab and identify any predictors of favorable outcome in patients with RA, PsA, or SpA.
Methods: We studied 355 RA, SpA, and PsA patients starting treatment with certolizumab. Endpoints of the study were drug survival and identification of predictors of clinical outcome. Drug retention was analyzed via the Kaplan-Meier method, and hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using Cox regression models.
Results: Of 355 certolizumab initiators, 178 had RA, 94 had PsA, and 83 had SpA. Biologic-naïve RA patients had significantly higher survival rates (73.3%) than switchers taking certolizumab as a second-line (49.0%) or third- or next-line biologic agent (51.2%; p = 0.0001). Instead, PsA and SpA patients showed similar drug retention rates regardless of the line of treatment. A significant clinical improvement from baseline was seen at 3 months for RA (28 joint-Disease Activity Score [DAS28]; p = 0.001), PsA (Disease Activity Index for PsA [DAPSA]; p = 0.001), and SpA (Bath Ankylosing Disease Index; p = 0.01). Biologic-naïve patients had the lowest HR (0.31; p = 0.001) of discontinuing certolizumab for RA, and the highest HR (7.94; p = 0.01) of achieving minimal disease activity (MDA) for PsA. For PsA, a predictor of late MDA was the achievement of low/remission DAPSA at 3 months, and 3-month low/remission DAS28 predicted late remission for RA.
Conclusions: Our study revealed that the best predictor of certolizumab effectiveness in unselected patients with RA, PsA, or SpA was a biologic-naïve status and achievement of an early response within 3 months.