Differences and similarities between the EULAR/ASAS-EULAR and national recommendations for treatment of patients with psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis across Europe.

This is the first report comparing EULAR and national treatment recommendations for PsA patients across Europe, and the first this decade to compare ASAS-EULAR and national treatment recommendations in axSpA patients. An electronic survey was completed from October 2021-April 2022 by rheumatologists in 15 European countries. One and four countries followed all EULAR and ASAS-EULAR recommendations, respectively. Five countries had no national treatment recommendations for PsA and/or axSpA, but followed other regulations. In several countries, national treatment recommendations predated the most recent EULAR/ASAS-EULAR recommendations. Entry criteria for starting biologic/targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs varied considerably. In several countries, for PsA patients with significant skin involvement, interleukin-17 inhibitors were not given preference. The positioning of Janus Kinase inhibitors differed and Phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors were not in use/reimbursed in most countries. This study may motivate European countries to update their national treatment recommendations, to align them better with the latest international recommendations.
Competing Interests: BM, research grant from Novartis (for the present manuscript, paid to employer), Centre for treatment of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (REMEDY) is funded as a Centre for Clinical Treatment Research by The Research Council of Norway (project 328657); MØ, Funding for the present manuscript from Novartis (paid to institution), The EuroSpA Research Collaboration Network was financially supported by Novartis Pharma AG, research grants from Abbvie, BMS, Merck, Novartis, UCB, consulting fees from Abbvie, BMS, Celgene, Eli-Lilly, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, MEDAC, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sandoz, UCB, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Abbvie, BMS, Celgene, Eli-Lilly, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, MEDAC, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sandoz, UCB, support for attending meetings and/or travel from UCB; MJN, grant from Novartis (payment to institution), consulting fees from AbbVie, Eli-Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer (payment to institution), payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from AbbVie, Eli-Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer (payment to institution), support for attending meetings and/or travel from Janssen, UCB (payment to institution), participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board from Eli-Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer (payment to institution), scientific member of the SCQM registry and the EuroSpA collaboration (unpaid), ASAS-EULAR taskforce member (unpaid); AC, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Abbvie, Merck-Sharp & Dohme, Novartis; BMö, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Abbvie, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Abbvie, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer; LMØ, research grant from Novartis (for the present manuscript, paid to employer); JZ, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Abbvie, Eli-Lilly, Sandoz, Novartis, Egis, UCB, Sanofi, Astra Zeneca, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Abbvie, Pfizer, Astra Zeneca, participation on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board from Abbvie, UCB, Sobi; BGli, Research grants from Pfizer, AbbVie, BMS (payments made to institution); AM; payment for work done in relation to research questions for this project from the University of Aberdeen, speakers fees for educational events from Galapagos; KL, Honoraria for lectures from Pfizer, Abbvie, Novartis, Janssen, support for attending meetings from Abbvie, Pfizer; DN, Consulting fees from BMS, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Pfizer, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Pfizer; BGu, consulting fees from Novartis, speaker bureaus from Novartis, Nordic Pharma; FI, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Abbvie, BMS, Galapagos, Eli-Lilly, Pfizer, UCB, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Pfizer, UCB; PH, research grant (payments made to employer) from Novartis; TKK, consulting fees from AbbVie, Gilead, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Sandoz, UCB, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Grünenthal, Janssen, Sandoz, participation on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board from Abbvie, grants or contracts from AbbVie, BMS, Galapagos, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB; AMR, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Abbvie, Amgen, Novartis, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Amgen, Nordic, Theramex, grants or contracts from Novartis, Pfizer, Amgen, Astra Zeneca, Abbvie, MSD, Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim; CC, None; ZR, Consulting fees from AbbVie, Janssen, Novartis, MSD and Lek Sandoz, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Eli Lilly, Janssen, Abbvie, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Gedeon Richter, Pfizer, SOBI (payments made to employer), participation on data safety monitoring board or advisory board from Abbvie, Pfizer, Astra Zeneca, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Novartis and Boehringer Ingelheim; ICF, consulting fees from Pfizer, Galapagos, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from BMS, Eli-Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Novartis, MSD, Pfizer, GSK, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Pfizer, Eli-Lilly; JKW, Research support from Abbvie, Amgen, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer (unrelated to the present work, payment made to Lund University), speakers bureaus from Abbvie and Amgen (payed to Skåne University Hospital), acting co-chair of the Swedish Society for Rheumatology's working group annually updating Swedish treatment recommendations for axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis (unpaid, fiduciary assignment); JV, support for the present manuscript from the Czech Ministry of Health–Conceptual Development of Research Organization 00023728 (Institute of Rheumatology), payment to institution, consulting fees from Eli Lilly, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Abbvie, Biogen, Eli Lilly, Gilead, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, UCB, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Abbvie (payment to institution), participation on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board from Abbvie, Gilead, Pfizer, UCB, grants or contracts from Abbvie (payment to institution); AGL, Consulting fees from Jansen-Cilag A/S, Lilly Nordics, UCB, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Novartis Healthcare A/S, Pfizer, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Pfizer, UCB, participation on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board from Jansen-Cilag A/S, Lilly Nordics, UCB; MH; None; SV, None; AMH, Research grant from MSD, grant for attending meeting from Janssen, Pfizer, support for travel cost from Janssen; GG, None; MS, support for the present manuscript from Lilly and Boehringer-Ingelheim, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speaker's bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Pfizer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, GSK, participation on data safety or advisory board from Janssen-Cilag, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Janssen-Cilag; MvdS, Research support/grant from UCB, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Janssen (payments made to institution, AMR Medical Research BV), consulting fees from Novartis, UCB, Abbvie (payments made to institution), payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Novartis, UCB, Janssen (payments made to institution), support for attending meetings and/or travel from UCB; EKK, None; MJS, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Abbvie, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, support for attending meetings and/or travel from Janssen, Viatris, Medac and receipt of equipment, materials, drugs, medical writing, gifts or other services from Vifor; CM, None; MT, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Roche, Lek-Sandoz, Janssen, Medis, Novartis, participation on data safety or advisory board from Astra Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Boehringer, MSD, Novartis, Roche; FDG, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Abbvie, payment for expert testimony from Abbvie, Galapagos, Janssen, and support for attending meetings and/or travel from Pfizer, Astra Zeneca; DDG, None; MLH, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Pfizer, Medac, Sandoz, research grants from Abbvie, Biogen, BMS, Celltrion, Eli Lilly, Janssen Biologics B.V, Lundbeck Foundation, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Biopies, Sandoz, Novartis, Nordstar (payment to institution). MLH has chaired the steering committee of the Danish Rheumatology Quality Registry (DANBIO, DRQ), which receives public funding from the hospital owners and funding from pharmaceutical companies. MLH co-chairs EuroSpA, which generates real-world evidence of treatment of psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis based on secondary data and is partly funded by Novartis.
(© 2023 The Author(s).)