Safety and efficacy of tofacitinib for the treatment of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: preliminary results of an open-label, long-term extension study

Objectives We report the safety, tolerability and efficacy of tofacitinib in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in an ongoing long-term extension (LTE) study. Methods Patients (2–<18 years) with JIA who completed phase 1/3 index studies or discontinued for reasons excluding treatment-related serious adverse events (AEs) entered the LTE study and received tofacitinib 5 mg two times per day or equivalent weight-based doses. Safety outcomes included AEs, serious AEs and AEs of special interest. Efficacy outcomes included improvement since tofacitinib initiation per the JIA-American College of Rheumatology (ACR)70/90 criteria, JIA flare rate and disease activity measured by Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score (JADAS)27, with inactive disease corresponding to JADAS ≤1.0. Results Of 225 patients with JIA (median (range) duration of treatment, 41.6 (1–103) months), 201 (89.3%) had AEs; 34 (15.1%) had serious AEs. 10 patients developed serious infections; three had herpes zoster. Two patients newly developed uveitis. Among patients with polyarticular course JIA, JIA-ACR70/90 response rates were 60.0% (78 of 130) and 33.6% (47 of 140), respectively, at month 1, and generally improved over time. JIA flare events generally occurred in <5% of patients through to month 48. Observed mean (SE) JADAS27 was 22.0 (0.6) at baseline, 6.2 (0.7) at month 1 and 2.8 (0.5) at month 48, with inactive disease in 28.8% (36 of 125) of patients at month 1 and 46.8% (29 of 82) at month 48. Conclusions In this interim analysis of LTE study data in patients with JIA, safety findings were consistent with the known profile of tofacitinib, and efficacy was maintained up to month 48. Trial registration number NCT01500551 .