Reimbursement Support

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Indication

Rituxan^® (rituximab) in combination with methotrexate is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more TNF antagonist therapies.

Rituxan is not recommended for treatment of patients with severe active infections.

Important Safety Information

Rituxan has been associated with fatal infusion reactions, tumor lysis syndrome (TLS), severe mucocutaneous reactions, and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML)
Hepatitis B reactivation, cardiac arrhythmias, and angina have also been observed
Patients should be closely observed for signs of infection if biologic agents and/or DMARDs other than methotrexate are used concomitantly
Common adverse reactions include infusion reactions and infections

Please see full prescribing information, including Boxed Warnings for additional safety information.

The Rituxan Clinical vPrint series Print Page

Rituxan vPrints take clinical findings to the next level with multimedia presentations from leading rheumatologists

Considerations for switching patients after inadequate
response to TNFi treatment

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An analysis by Finckh and colleagues titled Which subgroup of rheumatoid arthritis patients benefits from switching to rituximab versus alternative anti-TNF agents after previous failure to anti-TNF agent? was published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases. This study examined the effectiveness of switching to a therapy with a different MOA, like rituximab, versus an alternative TNFi in different subgroups of TNFi patients. The authors report that the improvement in disease activity was significantly better in patients treated with rituximab versus an alternative TNFi when the reason for switching was TNFi-inadequate response. When patients were switched due to other causes (including AEs), the improvement in disease activity was similar between rituximab and an alternative TNFi.

In this video, Dr Kevin Latinis of Kansas University Medical Center will guide you through the findings of this important study.

Care should be taken when interpreting these data, as they constitute the results of an uncontrolled observational study based on registry data. The study was not powered to detect differences in efficacy between therapies. No comparison of safety and efficacy is intended with any specific TNFi agent.

Click here to download the full journal article: Which subgroup of patients with rheumatoid arthritis benefits from switching to rituximab versus alternative anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) agents after previous failure of an anti-TNF agent? Finckh A, Ciurea A, Brulhart L, et al; on behalf of the doctors of the Swiss Clinical Quality Management Programme for Rheumatoid Arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. Published online May 2009. doi: 10.1136/ard.2008.105064
Click here to download the full journal article: Treatment response to a second or third TNF-inhibitor in RA: results from the South Swedish Arthritis Treatment Group Register. Karlsson JA, Kristensen LE, Kapetanovic MC, Gülfe A, Saxne T, Geborek P. Rheumatology. 2008;47(4):507-513.

Safety of biologics used after Rituxan
by Dr Mark Genovese and colleagues

Dr Daniel Furst of the UCLA Medical Center presents an analysis published by Dr Mark Genovese and colleagues' research describing the rate of serious infections in Rituxan patients who subsequently received treatment with another biologic therapy.

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Limited data are available on the safety of the use of biologic agents or DMARDs other than methotrexate in patients exhibiting peripheral B-cell depletion following treatment with rituximab. Observe patients closely for signs of infection if biologic agents and/or DMARDs are used concomitantly.

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