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Pregnancy Outcomes in the Tofacitinib Safety Databases for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Psoriasis

Lookup NU author(s): Professor John IsaacsORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).


Abstract

Introduction Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and is being investigated for the treatment of psoriasis. Both conditions can present in women of child-bearing potential, but pregnancy was an exclusion and discontinuation criterion in tofacitinib randomized controlled trials (RCTs) because of the unknown effects of tofacitinib on mother and child. Tofacitinib is a small molecule that has the potential to cross the placenta.Objective The objective was to report outcomes of pregnancy cases identified through April 2014 from tofacitinib RA/psoriasis RCTs, RA post-approval non-interventional studies, and spontaneous adverse-event reporting.Methods Pregnancy outcomes were categorized as follows: healthy newborn, medical termination, fetal death, congenital malformation, spontaneous abortion, or pending/lost to follow-up.Results Out of 9815 patients, 1821 female patients of child-bearing age were enrolled in the RA/psoriasis RCTs; 47 women became pregnant, including 33 who received tofacitinib monotherapy, 13 who received combination therapy with methotrexate (RA patients only), and one patient whose therapy was still blinded. No fetal deaths were reported. One congenital pulmonary valve stenosis (monotherapy, n = 1), seven spontaneous abortions (monotherapy, n = 4; combination therapy, n = 3), and eight medical terminations (monotherapy, n = 4; combination therapy, n = 3; blinded therapy, n = 1) were identified. Remaining cases reported healthy newborns (n = 25) or were pending/lost to follow-up (n = 6). Forty-four cases of paternal exposure to tofacitinib were reported (monotherapy, n = 43; combination therapy, n = 1), including five spontaneous abortions (monotherapy, n = 4; combination therapy, n = 1), 23 healthy newborns, and 16 pending/lost to follow-up.Conclusions The pregnancy outcomes reported in this small number of RA/psoriasis patients appear similar to those observed in the general population and in patients treated with biologic therapies for inflammatory diseases. However, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn, and pregnancy outcomes in patients receiving tofacitinib will continue to be monitored.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Clowse MEB, Feldman SR, Isaacs JD, Kimball AB, Strand V, Warren RB, Xibille D, Chen Y, Frazier D, Geier J, Proulx J, Marren A

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Drug Safety

Year: 2016

Volume: 39

Issue: 8

Pages: 755-762

Print publication date: 01/08/2016

Online publication date: 09/06/2016

Acceptance date: 02/04/2016

Date deposited: 05/09/2016

ISSN (print): 0114-5916

ISSN (electronic): 1179-1942

Publisher: Adis International Ltd.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40264-016-0431-z

DOI: 10.1007/s40264-016-0431-z


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