phase iiib switching from intravenous to subcutaneous study

Conditions: Arthritis, Rheumatoid

Summary: the purpose of this study is to determine whether switching to subcutaneous administration of abatacept will be safe in participants with rheumatoid arthritis who previously received long-term therapy with intravenous abatacept


Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * recruitment from 2 bristol-myers squibb (bms) studies (bms im101-029 \[nct00048581\] and bms im101-102 \[nct00048568\]). * completion of final quarterly dosing visit in nct00048581 or nct00048568 as follows: us and canadian participants: day 1821 visit; taiwanese participants: day 1905 visit; mexican participants: day 1989 visit. * agreement to participate in bms im101-185 (nct00663702) on final quarterly dosing visit in nct00048581 or nct00048568 study as follows: us and canadian participants: day 1821 visit; taiwanese participants: day 1905 visit; mexican participants: day 1989 visit. * at the time of completion of the nct00048581 or nct00048568 protocol, participant did not meet any criteria requiring their discontinuation. * drug stabilization requirements: participants who received concomitant medications (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, corticosteroids, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) at the time of their last quarterly dosing visit for nct00048581 or nct00048568 were required to maintain stable dose levels from the time they signed consent until the end of the first 3 months (day 85) of the current study. * willingness to self-inject study medication (abatacept) or allow a caregiver to inject study medication. * willingness to adhere to study visit schedule and comply with other protocol requirements. * male or female (not nursing or pregnant)genders, at least 18 years of age. women of childbearing potential (wocbp) must have been practicing adequate contraceptive measures during the study and for up to 10 weeks after the last infusion of study medication in such a manner that the risk of pregnancy was minimized. wocbp must have had a negative serum or urine pregnancy test result (minimum sensitivity of 25 iu/l or equivalent units of human chorionic gonadotropin \[hcg\]) within 48 hours prior to the start of study medication. exclusion criteria: * the following treatment or therapies should not be started on or after the final quarterly dosing visit from the nct00048581 or nct00048568 study: any biologic; immunoabsorption columns (such as prosorba columns); mycophenolate mofetil; cyclosporin a or other calcineurin inhibitors; d-penicillamine; any live vaccines within 3 months of day 1 or scheduled to receive a live vaccine during the course of the study * current symptoms of severe, progressive, or uncontrolled renal, hepatic, hematologic, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, cardiac, neurologic, or cerebral disease, or a concomitant medical condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, might have placed the participation at unacceptable risk for study participation * any clinical laboratory test result that was considered to be abnormal or not within acceptable limits on the final quarterly dosing visit of nct00048581 or nct00048568. screening laboratory test results for nct00663702 were based on the day 1821 visit of nct00048581 or nct00048568 for participants enrolled at sites in the us or canada and on the day 1989 visit of nct00048568 for participants enrolled at sites in mexico. * imprisonment or involuntarily incarceration for treatment of either a psychiatric or physical (eg, infectious disease) illness * impairment, incapacitation, inability to complete study-related assessments, or illiteracy.