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Comparison of the Efficacy and Safety of Tofacitinib and Apremilast in Patients with Active Psoriatic Arthritis: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

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A Correction to this article was published on 13 June 2019

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Abstract

Background

Tofacitinib and apremilast have shown considerable efficacy in placebo-controlled trials of active psoriatic arthritis, but the relative efficacy and safety remain unclear because of a lack of head-to-head comparisons.

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the relative efficacy and safety of tofacitinib and apremilast at different doses in patients with active psoriatic arthritis.

Method

We performed a Bayesian network meta-analysis to combine evidence from randomized controlled trials for examination of the efficacy and safety of tofacitinib 10 mg, tofacitinib 5 mg, apremilast 30 mg, and apremilast 20 mg in psoriatic arthritis.

Results

Eight randomized controlled trials including 3086 patients met the inclusion criteria. There were ten pairwise comparisons including six direct comparisons of five interventions. All the interventions achieved a significant American College of Rheumatology 20 response compared with placebo. Tofacitinib 10 mg and apremilast 30 mg were among the most effective treatments for active psoriatic arthritis, followed by tofacitinib 5 mg, and apremilast 20 mg. The ranking probability based on the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) indicated that tofacitinib 10 mg had the highest probability of being the best treatment in terms of the American College of Rheumatology 20 response rate (SUCRA = 0.785). This was followed by apremilast 30 mg (SUCRA = 0.670), tofacitinib 5 mg (SUCRA = 0.596), apremilast 20 mg (SUCRA = 0.448), and placebo (SUCRA = 0.001). We observed no significant differences in the incidence of serious adverse events after treatment with tofacitinib 10 mg, apremilast 30 mg, tofacitinib 5 mg, apremilast 20 mg, or placebo.

Conclusions

In patients with active psoriatic arthritis, tofacitinib 10 mg and apremilast 30 mg were the most efficacious interventions and were not associated with a significant risk of serious adverse events.

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Change history

  • 13 June 2019

    The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The corresponding author was incorrect.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rheumatology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Gwan Gyu Song & Young Ho Lee

  2. Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, 73, Inchon-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 02841, Korea

    Gwan Gyu Song

Authors
  1. Gwan Gyu Song
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Correspondence to Gwan Gyu Song.

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Funding

No sources of funding were received for the preparation of this article or conduct of the study.

Conflict of Interest

Gwan Gyu Song and Young Ho Lee have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

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Song, G.G., Lee, Y.H. Comparison of the Efficacy and Safety of Tofacitinib and Apremilast in Patients with Active Psoriatic Arthritis: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Clin Drug Investig 39, 421–428 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40261-019-00765-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40261-019-00765-w

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