Abatacept

Abatacept reduced rheumatoid arthritis progression compared with hydroxychloroquine in the trial. In the primary modified full analysis set, 7 of 34 abatacept-treated participants developed rheumatoid arthritis during 24 months. Time-to-event analysis favored abatacept, with a hazard ratio of 0.27 for progression to rheumatoid arthritis. Abatacept is administered in this study as subcutaneous treatment for two years, weekly in year one and every two weeks in year two. Abatacept inhibits T cell activation by binding CD80 and CD86 on antigen-presenting cells. Abatacept was well tolerated during the two-year trial.