This review summarises important pharmacological and clinical characteristics of the orally-administered, small-molecule, JAK inhibitor Rinvoq® (upadacitinib) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Upadacitinib has been approved in New Zealand for the treatment of moderately to severely active RA in adult patients. It may be used as monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate or other conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Upadacitinib is funded by Pharmac second or third line after prior biologic failure for adults with moderate-to-severe RA. Previous phase 2 studies have shown safety and efficacy of upadacitinib in the treatment of patients with active RA. This review focuses on two phase 3 clinical studies, SELECT-BEYOND and SELECT-COMPARE.
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