Real-world evidence of the effectiveness and safety of generic tofacitinib in rheumatoid arthritis patients: a retrospective, single-centre analysis from Western India

Generic tofacitinib has been available in India for more than a year and is widely used in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy. There is scarce real-world data on its effectiveness and safety from India, especially given infection endemicity. We retrospectively analysed records (demographic and clinical information, haematology and biochemistry, adverse events) of patients prescribed generic tofacitinib from a single centre in Mumbai, India. Disease activity was calculated using the disease activity score-28 and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) and other tools, and we used paired T-tests for significant response. We defined clinical tofacitinib failure as a composite outcome, including clinician’s decision to change to an alternative disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) or flare after self-withdrawal. We performed logistic regression and survival analysis for determinants of clinical failure. We reviewed records of 102 patients (92 female; median age: 53 years) with mean RA duration of 146 months. Thirteen had prior treatment with innovator tofacitinib. There was significant improvement in disease activity parameters at a mean duration of 186 days. No serious adverse events were reported; 4 patients had tuberculosis and 19 patients had mild COVID-19 while on treatment. Clinical failure was seen in 25 patients, and mean time to failure on survival analysis was 357 days. No baseline characteristic predicted clinical failure. Generic tofacitinib showed good effectiveness and a tolerable adverse effect profile, despite tuberculosis endemicity and COVID-19. Setting up registries would be valuable in gaining more data on generic tofacitinib.