The efficacy and safety of SIMPONI ARIA were evaluated in one multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial (Trial RA, NCT00973479) in 592 patients ≥ 18 years of age with moderately to severely active RA despite concurrent MTX therapy and had not previously been treated with a biologic TNF-blocker. Patients were diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria, at least 3 months prior to administration of study agent and were required to have at least 6 swollen and 6 tender joints. Patients were randomized to receive either SIMPONI ARIA 2 mg/kg (N=395) or placebo (N=197) over a 30-minute intravenous infusion at Weeks 0, 4 and every 8 weeks thereafter in addition to their weekly maintenance MTX dose (15–25 mg). All patients receiving placebo + MTX received SIMPONI ARIA + MTX after Week 24, but the trial remained blinded until all patients had completed 108 weeks of treatment. Efficacy data were collected and analyzed through Week 52. Patients were allowed to continue stable doses of concomitant low dose corticosteroids (equivalent to ≤ 10 mg of prednisone a day) and/or NSAIDs. The use of other DMARDs including cytotoxic agents or other biologics was prohibited.

The primary endpoint in Trial RA was the percentage of patients achieving an ACR 20 response at Week 14. In Trial RA, the majority of subjects were women (82%) and were Caucasian (80%) with a median age of 52 years and a median weight of 70 kg. Median disease duration was 4.7 years, and 50% of the patients used at least one DMARD other than MTX in the past. At baseline, 81% of patients received concomitant NSAIDs and 81% of patients received low-dose corticosteroids (equivalent to ≤ 10 mg of prednisone a day). The median baseline DAS28-CRP was 5.9 and the median van der Heijde-Sharp score at baseline was 28.5.

Clinical Response

A greater percentage of patients treated with the combination of SIMPONI ARIA + MTX achieved ACR 20 at Week 14 and ACR 50 at Week 24 versus patients treated with the placebo + MTX as shown in Table 2. The percent of patients achieving ACR 20 responses by visit for Trial RA is shown in Figure 1.

The improvement in all components of the ACR response criteria for the SIMPONI ARIA + MTX group was greater compared to the placebo + MTX group in Trial RA as shown in Table 3.

At Week 14, a greater proportion of patients treated with SIMPONI ARIA + MTX achieved a low level of disease activity as measured by a DAS28-CRP less than 2.6 compared with the placebo + MTX group (15% compared to 5%; 95% CI for difference [6.3%, 15.5%]).

Radiographic Response

In Trial RA, structural joint damage was assessed radiographically and expressed as a change in van der Heijde-Modified Sharp Score (vdH-S) and its components, the erosion score and Joint Space Narrowing (JSN) score, at Week 24 compared to baseline. The SIMPONI ARIA + MTX treatment group inhibited the progression of structural damage compared with placebo + MTX, as assessed by total vdH-S score as shown in Table 4.

At Week 24, a greater proportion of patients in the SIMPONI ARIA + MTX group (71%) had no progression of structural damage (change in the total vdH-S score ≤ 0), compared to 57% of patients in the placebo + MTX group. At Week 52, the mean change from baseline in total vdH-S score was 1.2 in patients originally randomized to placebo + MTX who crossed over to SIMPONI ARIA + MTX at Week 16 or Week 24, and 0.1 in patients originally randomized to SIMPONI ARIA + MTX who remained on active treatment.

Physical Function Response in Patients with RA

Physical function was assessed by the disability index of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ-DI). At Week 14, the SIMPONI ARIA + MTX group showed greater mean improvement in the HAQ-DI compared with placebo + MTX (0.5 compared to 0.2; 95% CI for difference [0.2, 0.4]).

Other Health-Related Outcomes

General health status was assessed by the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). In Trial RA, patients receiving SIMPONI ARIA + MTX demonstrated greater improvement from baseline compared with placebo + MTX in physical component summary (PCS), mental component summary (MCS) scores and in all 8 domains of the SF-36.

Fatigue was assessed by the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue score (FACIT-F) in Trial RA. Treatment with SIMPONI ARIA resulted in improvement in fatigue as measured by FACIT-F.