Conditions: Rheumatoid Arthritis
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 886
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This 3 arm randomized open label study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of tocilizumab in patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis, who have had inadequate response to or are unable to tolerate DMARDs. The protocol incorporates risk mitigation strategies developed in partnership with the FDA to manage known and potential risks associated with the treatment of tocilizumab. Patients will be randomized to receive tocilizumab either 4 mg/kg intravenous (iv) or 8 mg/kg iv with concomitant non-biologic DMARDs, or 8 mg/kg iv without concomitant non-biologic DMARDs, every 4 weeks, for a total of 6 infusions. The anticipated time on study treatment is 3-12 months, and the target sample size is 500-1000 individuals.

Detailed description:

Arms:
arm 1: Participants received Tocilizumab 8 mg/kg as a 60 minute intravenous infusion every 4 weeks for a total of 6 infusions for 24 weeks. Participants who completed the 24 week treatment period were offered the option of entering a long-term extension phase at the investigator's discretion. arm 2: Participants received Tocilizumab (TCZ) 4 mg/kg as a 60 minute intravenous infusion every 4 weeks for a total of 6 infusions plus non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) of the investigator's choice for 24 weeks. Participants not achieving a 20% improvement from baseline in tender and swollen joint counts at Week 8 were to have their dosage increased to 8 mg/kg, per protocol. Beginning at Week 12 dosage increase to 8 mg/kg was at the discretion of the investigator. Participants who completed the 24 week treatment period were offered the option of entering a long-term extension phase at the investigator's discretion. arm 3: Participants received Tocilizumab (TCZ) 8 mg/kg as a 60 minute intravenous infusion every 4 weeks for a total of 6 infusions plus non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) of the investigator's choice for 24 weeks. Participants who completed the 24 week treatment period were offered the option of entering a long-term extension phase at the investigator's discretion.

Interventions: intervention 1: tocilizumab [RoActemra/Actemra] intervention 2: tocilizumab [RoActemra/Actemra] intervention 3: Nonbiologic DMARDs of investigator's choice
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: 8 mg/kg intravenous every 4 weeks for 24 weeks intervention 2: 4 mg/kg every 4 weeks for 24 weeks intervention 3: Nonbiologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) As prescribed

Protocol document: