104. In addition, because of the long-term nature of the study, approximately 19% of patients discontinued treatment by week 104, with unsatisfactory therapeutic effect and adverse events being the most common reasons for discontinuation. However, 290 patients completed the study through week 104 and were included in the results presented here. The results of this study suggest that subcutaneous injec- tions of golimumab every 4 weeks were effective in reducing the signs and symptoms of AS in patients with active disease despite prior treatment with NSAIDs or DMARDs, as well as in sustaining improvement in physical function, range of motion and health-related quality of life through week 104. Patients who completed the 2-year study will continue to be followed for up to 5 years to allow for a long-term analysis of the effects of golimumab in patients with AS. In addition, the effect of golimumab on radiographic end points including MRI was also evaluated, and these results will be reported separately. The sus- tained improvement in the signs and symptoms of AS in the cur- rent analysis is consistent with 2-year studies of other anti-TNF agents,12–14 and the safety proﬁle of golimumab appeared to be consistent with the known safety proﬁle of TNF inhibitors. Acknowledgements The authors thank the patients, the investigators and the study personnel who made this trial possible. The authors also thank Michelle Perate, MS, Rebecca Clemente, PhD, and Mary Whitman, PhD, of Janssen Biotech, Inc, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, Inc., who helped prepare the manuscript. Funding This study was funded by Centocor Research & Development, a division of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C., and Schering- Plough Research Institute, Inc. Competing interests Dr Braun has received honoraria for talks, advisory boards and grants for studies from Centocor Research & Development, Celltrion, Amgen, Abbott, Roche, BMS, Novartis, Pﬁzer (Wyeth), MSD (Schering-Plough), Sanoﬁ-Aventis and UCB. Dr Deodhar has received payments for educational lectures, teleconferences and serving on advisory boards for Centocor Research & Development. This potential conﬂict of interest has been reviewed and managed by OHSU. Dr Inman has received consulting fees from Merck, Schering-Plough, Abbott, Amgen and Sanoﬁ-Aventis. Dr van der Heijde has received consulting fees and/or research grants from Abbott, Amgen, BMS, Centocor R&D, Chugai, Merck, Novartis, Pﬁzer, Roche, Sanoﬁ-Aventis, Schering-Plough, UCB and Wyeth. Drs Mack and Hsu and Mr Xu are employees of Centocor Research & Development, a division of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C., and own stock and/or stock options in Johnson & Johnson, Inc. 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