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Objective: To assess whether the retention rate of certolizumab pegol (CZP) was longer than that of other tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) based on baseline rheumatoid factor (RF) levels., Methods: Longitudinal, retrospective and multicentre study including patients with RA who were treated with any TNFi (monoclonal antibodies (mAB), etanercept (ETA) or CZP). Log-rank test and Cox regressions were conducted to evaluate the retention rate in the three groups according to the level of RF, with the third quartile of the baseline levels used as cut-off: <200 (

Objectives: To analyse the trajectories of Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28), patient global assessment (PGA) and physician global assessment (PhGA) and to assess their predictive capabilities on difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (D2TRA) classification., Methods: Longitudinal study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from 2020 to 2022. Based on the D2TRA EULAR (European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology) definition, patients were classified as D2TRA according to biological or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) failure due to inefficacy (D2TRA-inefficacy) or other reasons (D2TRA-other). Patients who did not fulfil the D2TRA criteria were classified as NoD2TRA. DAS28, PGA and PhGA scores collected every 6 months during the first 24 months of b/tsDMARD treatment were used to identify different trajectories using latent class mixed models (LCMM)., Results: The study population comprised 255 patients with RA, of whom 167 were NoD2TRA, 58 D2TRA-inefficacy and 30 D2TRA-other. LCMM stratified patients into two different trajectories for DAS28 and PhGA and three for PGA according to the most stable model. The most notable variation occurred during the first 6 months of treatment, thereafter remaining stable during the follow-up period. Most D2TRA-inefficacy patients fitted the trajectory, showing higher values of the studied parameters. NoD2TRA followed the trajectory with lower values, and D2TRA-other were distributed more homogeneously across all trajectories., Conclusions: The assessment of disease activity, together with patients' and physicians' perceptions, form a key element in the correct discrimination of patients who are going to develop D2TRA-inefficacy. However, identifying those patients who will be D2TRA-other remains challenging, whether by subjective or objective parameters., Competing Interests: Competing interests: MNN reports grants from UCB, Lilly, Galapagos and Janssen outside the submitted work. AV reports grants from Janssen. IM reports grants from Roche, Novartis, UCB and Gedeon Richter outside the submitted work. CP-R reports grants from AbbVie, Pfizer, Novartis, Lilly and Roche outside the submitted work. AB reports grants from AbbVie, Amgen, Pfizer, Galapagos, Novartis, Gilead, BMS, Nordic, Sanofi, Sandoz, Lilly, UCB and Roche outside the submitted work., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: First, to investigate if switching biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) after the failure to prior bDMARD is efficacious in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Second, to evaluate the influence on this efficacy of (1) the reason to discontinue prior tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi), (2) changing the type of TNFi and (3) changing the target., Methods: A systematic literature review until January 2017 was performed using Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane databases. Longitudinal studies assessing clinical response after switching bDMARDs in patients with axSpA were analysed., Results: In total, 9 studies out of 1862 retrieved citations were included. Overall, the level of evidence was poor. In these studies, all patients received a TNFi as first bDMARD, 1956 patients switched to a second bDMARD (97% TNFi and 3% interleukin-17 inhibitors (IL-17i)) and 170 to a third bDMARD (all TNFi). Clinical response (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index 50) after a second TNFi was achieved by 25%-56% of patients compared with 50%-72% after the first TNFi. Also, 47% of patients switching to IL-17i after a TNFi responded (Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society 40) compared with 66% in those who received IL-17i as first line. The response after switching was not influenced by the reason to discontinue, type of prior TNFi or changing the target., Conclusions: In patients with axSpA, switching to a second bDMARD (a TNFi or IL-17i) after prior TNFi is efficacious. Nevertheless, the clinical response is lower than the observed in patients naive to bDMARD. So far, the reason to discontinue prior bDMARD or the type of bDMARD has not been identified as predictor of response. Published evidence for switching to a third bDMARD is lacking., Competing Interests: Competing interests: VN-C has received speaking fees or funding for research projects and attending congresses from AbbVie, BMS, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and UCB. AB is a consultant for, participated in clinical trials for, member of a speaker bureau for, received research grants from Abbvie, Boehringer, BMS, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, MSD and Roche. CPR has received grants from Pfizer. EDM has been a consultant for, participated in clinical trials for, member of a speaker bureau for and received research grants from AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, BMS, Janssen, Hospira, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi and UCB. JG is a consultant for, participated in clinical trials for, member of a speaker bureau for, received research grants from AbbVie, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB and Janssen. The other author has declared no conflicts of interest.