Clinical efficacy of abatacept in Japanese rheumatoid arthritis patients

The purpose of this study was to examine the treatment retention and efficacy of abatacept, the first member of a new class of biologic agents, in Japanese rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients during clinical practice. A retrospective multicenter study was conducted with patients who underwent abatacept therapy for 24 weeks (n = 143). Patients at baseline had a mean age of 63.5 years, a mean disease duration of 11.3 years, and a mean disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28) of 4.5. Overall retention of abatacept treatment was 83.2 % at 24 weeks, when 46.2 % of patients achieved DAS28-defined low disease activity (LDA; DAS28 < 3.2) and 26.6 % achieved DAS28-defined remission (DAS28 < 2.6). LDA was achieved in a significantly higher proportion of patients without prior biologics therapy compared to those with prior biologics (60.9 vs. 34.2 %, p = 0.001). There was no significant difference between patients with or without concomitant methotrexate (MTX) therapy (45.2 vs. 47.5 %). Abatacept therapy appears to be highly effective and well tolerated during clinical treatment of RA. Abatacept was particularly effective in patients with no history of biologics use, and did not appear to be dependent on concomitant MTX therapy.