FRI0136 PERIPHERAL PROTEIN BIOMARKER CHANGES FOLLOWING SELECTIVE INHIBITION OF JANUS KINASE 1 (JAK1) BY FILGOTINIB IN ADULTS WITH MODERATELY-TO-SEVERELY ACTIVE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS WITH PRIOR INADEQUATE RESPONSE TO METHOTREXATE (FINCH1)
Authors: P. C. Taylor, E. Elboudwarej, B. Downie, J. Liu, R. E. Hawtin, A. M. Mirza
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2020)

Background: Filgotinib (FIL), an oral selective Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor has shown efficacy and safety in multiple phase 3 studies in adults with moderately-to-severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including those with prior inadequate response to methotrexate (MTX) therapy (FINCH1; NCT02889796 ). Objectives: A longitudinal study of protein biomarkers related to JAK signaling 1 , bone biology 2 , immune cell migration 2 , and inflammation 2 was conducted to identify RA-associated markers altered by FIL vs MTX or adalimumab (ADA). Methods: FINCH1 RA patients (pts) were randomized to receive either a stable dose of MTX with placebo (PBO+MTX), ADA+MTX, and either FIL100mg+MTX or FIL200mg+MTX, once daily. Plasma, serum, and urine samples were taken from a subset of pts (~548) at baseline (BL) and weeks (wks) 4 and 12. Twenty-six pre-defined cytokines (biomarkers) were evaluated using ELISA. BL correlation between biomarkers and clinical response measures (DAS28CRP, SJC28, TJC28, CDAI, Patient Assessment and FACIT), were analyzed by Spearman Rank. Multiscale bootstrap resampling evaluated significant intra-cluster biomarker membership. Mean changes in biomarker levels from BL to wks 4 and 12 were compared between arms using PBO-adjusted estimates from a linear mixed effects model. A 5% false-discovery rate was applied for all analyses. Results: At BL, distinct biomarker-based pt clusters (CL) were identified. The strongest intra-group correlations were in bone-cartilage resorption/inflammation (CL1; Rho range 0.37–0.88) and JAK activity (CL2; Rho range 0.41–0.71). Individual BL cytokine levels were significantly associated with DAS28CRP, with unique biomarkers specific to various subcomponents of the score. Eleven biomarkers were associated with DAS28CRP, while 5, 3, and 2 were associated with CDAI, SJC28, and TJC28, respectively. The magnitude of FIL-associated treatment effects was time- and dose-dependent. Significant biomarker changes from BL were observed in FIL pts, relative to PBO+MTX pts. FIL100mg+MTX led to a significant change in 8 biomarkers by either 4 or 12 wks of treatment; FIL200mg+MTX significantly changed these and an additional 4 biomarkers by either time point. The greatest effect of FIL200mg+MTX was at 12 wks for CXCL13 (-38.4%) and IL6 (-53.7%). All treatment arms led to significant reductions in TNFα relative to PBO+MTX. FIL200mg+MTX treatment led to larger reductions of TNFα than ADA+MTX treatment at both wk4 (-24.7% vs -17.9%) and wk12 (-20.5% vs -12.2%), although the differences were not statistically significant. FIL and ADA caused differential patterns of cytokine response at either wks 4 or 12. Of 12 biomarkers with a significant FIL200mg+MTX treatment effect, there was a significantly larger reduction in TNFSF13B and CTX1 relative to ADA+MTX at 12 wks. Of 8 biomarkers with FIL100mg+MTX effects, only 2 (CXCL10 at wk 4; CXCL13 at wks 4 and 12) had significant differences from ADA+MTX. Relative either to FIL200mg+MTX or FIL100mg+MTX, and despite the same direction of effect, ADA+MTX led to a significantly larger reduction in CCL2, CXCL10, CCL4, and CXCL13. Conclusion: Compared with PBO, 12 wks of FIL treatment significantly reduced cytokines associated with JAK activity 1 , bone biology 2 , inflammation 2 , and immune cell migration 2 in MTX-IR pts. The effects were largely FIL dose-dependent; most cytokines exhibited similar effects regardless of treatment arms, but differential changes between FIL+MTX and ADA+MTX were observed, supportive of the different mechanisms of action of these therapies. References: [1]Majoros A, et al. Front Immunol. 2017;8:29 [2]Brennan F, and McInnes I. J Clin Invest. 2008;118:3537-45 Acknowledgments: This study was funded by Gilead Sciences, Inc. Editorial support was provided by Fishawack Communications Inc and funded by Gilead Sciences, Inc. Disclosure of Interests: Peter C. Taylor Grant/research support from: Celgene, Eli Lilly and Company, Galapagos, and Gilead, Consultant of: AbbVie, Biogen, Eli Lilly and Company, Fresenius, Galapagos, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Nordic Pharma, Pfizer Roche, and UCB, Emon Elboudwarej Shareholder of: Gilead Sciences Inc., Employee of: Gilead Sciences Inc., Bryan Downie Shareholder of: Gilead Sciences Inc., Employee of: Gilead Sciences Inc., Jinfeng Liu Shareholder of: Gilead Sciences Inc., Roche, Employee of: Gilead Sciences Inc., Rachael E. Hawtin Shareholder of: Gilead Sciences Inc., Employee of: Gilead Sciences Inc., Amer M. Mirza Shareholder of: Gilead Sciences Inc., Employee of: Gilead Sciences Inc.