Effectiveness and safety of certolizumab pegol in rheumatoid arthritis patients in Canadian practice: 2-year results from the observational FαsT-CAN study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess the real-world effectiveness and safety of certolizumab pegol (CZP) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, and the impact on patients’ productivity, pain, and fatigue, in Canadian practice. METHODS: FαsT-CAN, a 2-year prospective, observational study, evaluated CZP use in Canadian adults with moderate to severe, active RA. The primary objective was to assess the proportion of patients achieving 28-joint Disease Activity Scores (DAS28) <2.6 at Week 104. Secondary and additional endpoints assessed the improvements in Patients’ Assessment of Arthritis Pain (PtAAP), fatigue, Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI), and the proportion of patients achieving minimal clinically important differences (MCID) in HAQ-DI. Validated arthritis-specific Work Productivity Surveys (WPS-RA) assessed the RA-associated impact on productivity. Incidence of CZP-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) was reported for patients receiving ⩾1 dose of CZP (safety set). RESULTS: The full analysis set (baseline DAS28 ⩾ 2.6, ⩾1 dose of CZP and ⩾1 valid post-baseline DAS28 measurement) included 451 of the 546 patients recruited into the study; a total of 229/451 (50.8%) patients completed Week 104. At Week 104, 90/451 (20.0%) patients achieved DAS28 < 2.6. Rapid improvements in disease activity, pain, and fatigue were observed. At Week 104, 66.2% of patients achieved HAQ-DI MCID. Patients employed at Week 104, reported reduced absenteeism, and improved productivity. CZP-related TEAEs were consistent with the known CZP safety profile. CONCLUSIONS: CZP was an effective RA treatment in Canadian practice, and no new CZP-related safety signals were identified. The improvements in household and workplace productivity are the first observations in a real-world Canadian setting.