Enbrel and Humira remain the mainstay for first-line biologic rheumatoid arthritis treatment in USA

The vast majority of patients in the USA treated with Amgen's (Nasdaq: AMGN) Enbrel (etanercept) and AbbVie's (NYSE: ABBV) abatacept) Humira (adalimumab) - significantly more patients than those treated with any other non-traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drug - were biologic-naive and, therefore, taking these agents as their first-line biologic treatment, according to BioTrends Research, a unit of Decision Resources.

Although Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) Xeljanz ( tofacitinib) has been on the market for only about six months at the time this study was fielded, nearly 60% of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients currently treated with this drug were biologic-naive prior to initiation, which is in-line with its Food and Drug Administration-approved label. Xeljanz-treated patients who were previously treated with another agent were most commonly switched from Enbrel, Humira and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Orencia IV (abatacept).

81% of Xeljanz patients experienced partial or complete remission