Why carry out this study?

Non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA), a subtype of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), is characterized by a substantial burden of illness that is comparable to ankylosing spondylitis.

Biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs), including tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and interleukin inhibitors, are effective treatment options following the failure of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Certolizumab pegol (CZP) has been shown to be effective in the management of patients with nr-axSpA, however no head-to-head efficacy comparisons vs. other bDMARDs have been reported.

What was learned from this study?

Results of the indirect treatment comparisons showed that patients treated with CZP were significantly more likely to achieve key efficacy responses compared to most bDMARDs such as etanercept, ixekizumab, and secukinumab.

Among patients displaying objective signs of inflammation, CZP was found to be superior to SEC (in the MRI−/CRP + and MRI + /CRP− subgroups) and ETN (MRI + /CRP− subgroup) and it was comparable to golimumab and ixekizumab across the different subgroups of patients with objective signs of inflammation.