restart c0168z05 rheumatoid arthritis study

Conditions: Rheumatoid Arthritis

Summary: the purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of treatment in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who are having an inadequate response to at least 3 months of treatment with etanercept or adalimumab in addition to methotrexate.

this is a phase 4, multi center, open-label, assessor blinded, switch study of infliximab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who are receiving methotrexate and are having an inadequate response to their current treatment with etanercept or adalimumab. the last dose of etanercept must have been at least 1 week but not more than 2 weeks prior to the first infliximab study infusion. the last dose of adalimumab must have been administered at least 2 weeks but not more than 4 weeks prior to the first infliximab study infusion. the study will be conducted for 30 weeks and will include 200 patients. all eligible patients will receive 3 mg/kg infliximab infusions (drug given into a vein) at weeks 0, 2, and 6 and every 8 weeks thereafter, if they achieve a european league against rheumatism (eular) response on their current dose of infliximab. patients who do not achieve a eular response will increase their dose from 3mg/kg to 5 mg/kg at week 14. patients who do not achieve a eular response at week 22 will increase from either 3 mg/kg to 5 mg/kg or from 5mg/kg to 7 mg/kg. the last study infusion will take place at week 22. the last study visit for effectiveness evaluations will take place at week 26. a week 30 follow-up visit will be performed for adverse events and tuberculosis evaluations, health economics assessments, and review of concomitant medications. all patients who end the study early will be required to complete all assessments. patients will receive 3 mg/kg infliximab infusions at weeks 0, 2, and 6. if patients achieve european league against rheumatism (eular) response, they will remain on their current dose. patients who do not demonstrate a eular response will increase their infliximab dose from 3 mg/kg to 5 mg/kg at week 14. at week 22, patients will also increase their infliximab dose from 3 mg/kg to 5mg/kg or from 5 mg/kg to 7mg/kg if they do not demonstrate a eular response.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * patients must have rheumatoid arthritis * patients must have greater than or equal to 6 tender joints and greater than or equal to 6 swollen joints * patients must have inadequate disease response to etanercept or adalimumab * patients must have received etanercept or adalimumab in combination with methotrexate for a minimum of at least 3 months prior to the screening visit. the last dose of etanercept must have been given at least 1 week but not more than 2 weeks prior to first infliximab infusion. the last dose of adalimumab must have been administered at least 2 weeks but not more than 4 weeks prior to first infliximab infusion. exclusion criteria: * patients who have a history of latent or active tb * have inflammatory disease other than rheumatoid arthritis * have had a chronic or recurrent infectious disease.

Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis remicade infliximab centocor etanercept enbrel adalimumab humira restart swollen joints tender joints.