Canakinumab eliminates resistant familial Mediterranean fever in a Japanese girl

The safety of canakinumab in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and autoinflammatory diseases in pediatric patients: a multicenter study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the safety of canakinumab using real-world data in patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) and autoinflammatory diseases (AID).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

This was a cross-sectional observational, multicenter study. Patients diagnosed with AID and sJIA treated with canakinumab were included in the study. The participating 13 centers retrospectively collected their patients' data.

RESULTS

A total of 335 patients were involved in the study. Among these patients, 280 were in the AID group and 55 were in the sJIA group. Canakinumab was administered at a median dose of 3 (2.5-4) mg/kg. The median total exposure time to canakinumab was 1.9 (0.8-3.2) years, corresponding to 759.5 patient-years. Seven hundred and seventy-nine total adverse events (AE) were identified. The total incidence of AE, and serious adverse events (SAE) throughout the study period was 1.02 per patient-years. The upper respiratory tract infection rate was 0.7 per patient-years, while the other infection rate was 0.13 per patient-years. While no death was observed in any patient, SAE were observed in 8 patients. Interstitial lung disease, anaphylaxis, or anaphylactoid reactions were not observed in any patient.

CONCLUSIONS

Real-life data from a large cohort of patients suggests that canakinumab is as safe as claimed in clinical trials.

The Efficacy, Safety and Tolerability of Canakinumab in the Treatment of Familial Mediterranean Fever: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is the most prevalent genetic autoinflammatory disorder. In most patients, treatment with colchicine can prevent attacks of fever and inflammation. However, 5%-10% of patients are resistant to colchicine treatment, while a similar percentage cannot tolerate colchicine in doses needed to prevent attacks. For these patients, Canakinumab, a full human antibody against IL-1β, has been approved recently by the FDA and EMA. In this article, we present a systematic review of the long-term efficacy, safety, and tolerability of Canakinumab in FMF patients who cannot tolerate colchicine or who are resistant to colchicine treatment.