Comparative efficacy and safety of infliximab and its biosimilars in patients with rheumatoid arthritis presenting an insufficient response to methotrexate

To assess the relative efficacy and safety of infliximab and its biosimilars in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who showed an inadequate response to methotrexate (MTX).

We performed a Bayesian network meta-analysis combining direct and indirect evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), comparing the efficacy and safety of infliximab biosimilars versus the originator product in patients with active RA despite receiving MTX.

Overall, 7 RCTs involving 3168 patients, including 7 biologic agents, met the inclusion criteria. The NI-071 was listed at the top left of the diagonal of the league table because it was associated with the most favorable surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) for the American College of Rheumatology 20 (ACR20) response rate. SB2 was listed at the bottom right of the diagonal of the league table because it was associated with the least favorable results. Based on SUCRA, NI-071 had the highest probability of being the best treatment agent in terms of the ACR20 response rate (SUCRA = 0.731), followed by ABP 710, CT-P13, BCD-055, infliximab, Exemptia, PF-06438179, and SB2 (SUCRA = 0.311). Although statistically non-significant differences in safety ranking were observed for serious adverse events (SAEs) among the treatment options, ABP 710 presented the highest safety probability (SUCRA = 0.739) while BCD-055 showed the lowest safety profile (SUCRA = 0.289).

No significant difference in ACR20 response rates and SAEs were detected between infliximab biosimilars and the originator in the investigated study populations.