Adalimumab vs Etanercept for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Comparing Adverse Reactions, Drug Survival

Adverse drug reactions were the second most common reason for discontinuation of first-time treatment with adalimumab and etanercept among real-world patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to study findings published in Expert Opinion on Drug Safety.

The retrospective, single-center cohort study found that adverse drug reactions were behind 20.7% of adalimumab discontinuations and 21.4% of etanercept discontinuations.

Some 416 patients treated between January 2003 and April 2020 were included in the analysis. 

The rate of adverse drug reactions with first-time treatment was 23.1% with adalimumab and 20.4% with etanercept, reported corresponding author Kimberly Velthuis of the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb in 's-Hertogenbosch, and coauthors.

After researchers adjusted models for age, gender, and concomitant use of conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), adalimumab had a higher likelihood of discontinuation, according to the study. Compared with etanercept, adjusted hazard ratios for discontinuation with adalimumab were 1.63 at to 2 years, 1.62 at 5 years, and 1.59 at 10 years.

“Despite seemingly different nature and frequencies, adverse drug reactions are the second reason of treatment discontinuation for both biologic DMARDs,” researchers reported. “Furthermore, 2-, 5-, and 10-year drug survival is longer for etanercept compared to adalimumab.”

Reference:
Velthuis K, Jessurun NT, Nguyen TDM, et al. First-time adverse drug reactions, survival analysis, and the share of adverse drug reactions in treatment discontinuation in real-world rheumatoid arthritis patients: a comparison of first-time treatment with adalimumab and etanercept. Expert Opin Drug Saf. Published online January 27, 2023. doi:10.1080/14740338.2023.2172157