Loading...
Biologic agents (e.g., etanercept [Enbrel], infliximab [Remicade]) are effective treatments for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have not responded to traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs; e.g., methotrexate). Nine agents have been approved, but concerns persist that biologic therapies confer excess risk for serious infections. In this meta-analysis, researchers assessed evidence from 106 clinical trials in which biologic therapies were compared with each other, placebo, or single or combination DMARDs in 42,330 adults with RA.
Risk for serious infections overall was higher in patients treated with biologic therapies than in those treated with DMARDs. Absolute annual risk for serious infections was 20 per 1000…