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Rapid Improvement of the Individual Components in ACR20 Responders With Adalimumab (Humira): Presented at ACR

By Jerry Ingram

ORLANDO, FL -- October 27, 2003 -- Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) appear to respond to treatment with adalimumab (Humira) as quickly as after 1 week of treatment, according to research from a clinical trial presented here on October 25^th at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

"You get early response in most patients -- 1 to 2 weeks. Those people who respond well respond early and the good responders continue to improve over time," said Daniel Furst, MD, lead researcher, Professor of Rheumatology, University of California – Los Angeles. "I think this says that we should expect rapid response and that better responders respond for long term. Consequently, from a practice point of view, if you're getting a good response, you can expect patients to get better and better. If you're not getting any response, you don't have to wait very long."

For this 6-month randomised trial, called the ARMADA trial, Dr. Furst and his team enrolled 271 patients with long-standing diagnosis of RA who had responded in part to treatment with methotrexate. Investigators assessed the actual magnitude of improvement from baseline in the individual components for patients treated with adalimumab 40mg every other week who had achieved an ACR20 response, Dr. Furst stated. They measured improvement by calculating the percent change from baseline.

The researchers found that 25% of patients experienced an ACR20 response within the first week of treatment. In terms of mean improvement, they noted a 52% improvement of tender joint counts and a 62% improvement in swollen joint counts. In addition, they observed a 51% improvement in pain, physical and patient global assessments.

Improvement in C-reactive protein was 47%, and Health Assessment Questionnaire was 34%. Dr. Furst stated that the ACR20 response was 52% at 4 weeks, but mean improvement in individual components was consistently higher than 52%. Differences in percent ACR response and percent improvement persisted throughout the 6 months of the trial.


[Study title: Improvement of the Individual ACR Components in ACR20 Responders in an Adalimumab (HUMIRA™) RA Clinical Trial. Abstract P165]

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