Trial reportArthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.)2019
A Fifty-Two-Week, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Certolizumab Pegol in Nonradiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis.
Trial report in Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 100 citations in OpenAlex.
- Blood-test monitoring strategies for patients established on immune-suppressing drugs: a mixed-methods study.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Sex-Related Differences in Efficacy and Safety Outcomes in Axial Spondyloarthritis Randomized Clinical Trials: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis.Arthritis care & research · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors, Interleukin-17 Inhibitors, and Janus Kinase Inhibitors in Patients with Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.International archives of allergy and immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Comparison of biologics and small-molecule drugs in axial spondyloarthritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Incidence of anterior uveitis in patients with axial spondyloarthritis treated with anti-TNF or anti-IL17A: a systematic review, a pairwise and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Arthritis research & therapy · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Upadacitinib in active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis: 2-year data from the phase 3 SELECT-AXIS 2 study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Validation of SPARCC MRI-RETIC e-tools for increasing scoring proficiency of MRI sacroiliac joint lesions in axial spondyloarthritisRMD open · 2024Trial
- Efficacy and Safety of Intravenous Golimumab in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients With Early and Late Disease Through One Year of the GO-ALIVE Study.Journal of clinical rheumatology : practical reports on rheumatic & musculoskeletal diseases · 2022Trial
- Certolizumab pegol treatment in axial spondyloarthritis mitigates fat lesion development: 4-year post-hoc MRI results from a phase 3 study.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Improvement of Functioning and Health With Ixekizumab in the Treatment of Active Nonradiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis in a 52-Week, Randomized, Controlled Trial.Arthritis care & research · 2022Trial
- Predictors of long-term clinical response in patients with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis receiving certolizumab pegol.Arthritis research & therapy · 2021Trial
- Improvement of Signs and Symptoms of Nonradiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis in Patients Treated With Secukinumab: Primary Results of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Phase III Study.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Trial
- Maintenance of clinical remission in early axial spondyloarthritis following certolizumab pegol dose reduction.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Therapeutics in Axial Spondyloarthritis: A Review of What Works - SPARTAN 2026 Annual Meeting Proceedings.Current rheumatology reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Maintained improvement in patient-reported outcomes in early axial spondyloarthritis following certolizumab pegol dose reduction: findings from the randomised period of a phase 3b trial.EULAR rheumatology open · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 12 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe natural history of nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) is incompletely characterized, and there are concerns that nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs provide inadequate disease control in patients with active disease. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of certolizumab pegol (CZP), an anti-tumor necrosis factor treatment, in patients with nonradiographic axial SpA with objective signs of inflammation.
methodsIn this ongoing parallel-group double-blind study, adults with active disease were recruited from 80 centers in Australia, Europe, North America, and Taiwan, and were randomized 1:1 to receive placebo or CZP (400 mg at weeks 0, 2, and 4, followed by 200 mg every 2 weeks) in addition to nonbiologic background medication (NBBM). Switching to open-label CZP (or other biologic) or making background medication changes was permitted at any point during the trial, although changes before week 12 were discouraged. The primary end point was the proportion of patients achieving major improvement (MI) (i.e., a ≥2.0-point decrease in the score from baseline or achievement of the lowest possible score [0.6]) in the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) at week 52.
resultsA total of 317 patients were randomized to receive placebo plus NBBM (n = 158) or CZP plus NBBM (n = 159). ASDAS-MI at week 52 was achieved in 47.2% (75 of 159) of CZP plus NBBM patients, which was significantly greater (P < 0.0001) than the 7.0% (11 of 158) of placebo plus NBBM patients in whom ASDAS-MI was achieved. Of the placebo plus NBBM patients, 60.8% (96 of 158) switched to open-label treatment before week 52 compared to 12.6% (20 of 159) of the CZP plus NBBM patients.
conclusionAdding CZP to background medication is superior to adding placebo in patients with active nonradiographic axial SpA. These results indicate that remission in nonradiographic axial SpA treated without biologics occurs infrequently, demonstrating the need for treatment beyond nonbiologic therapy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.