Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40461266›Full record

Trial reportRMD open2025

Benefit-risk analysis of upadacitinib versus adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and higher or lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Gerd R Burmester, Eduardo Mysler, Peter Taylor, Stephen Hall, Bettina Wick-Urban, Andrew Garrison, Tianming Gao, Irina Fish, Sander Strengholt, Roy Fleischmann

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialComparative Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in RMD open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Gerd R BurmesterDepartment of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany gerd.burmester@charite.de.ORCID 0000-0001-7518-1131
Eduardo MyslerOrganización Médica de Investigación, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Peter TaylorBotnar Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7766-6167
Stephen HallEmeritus Research, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Bettina Wick-UrbanAbbVie Inc, North Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Andrew GarrisonAbbVie Inc, North Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Tianming GaoAbbVie Inc, North Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Irina FishAbbVie Inc, North Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Sander StrengholtAbbVie Inc, North Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Roy FleischmannMetroplex Clinical Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6630-1477

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesEvaluate the risks and benefits of upadacitinib 15 mg vs adalimumab in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with an inadequate response to methotrexate based on cardiovascular (CV) risk.

methodsIn SELECT-COMPARE, patients received upadacitinib 15 mg, placebo or adalimumab 40 mg every other week, with background methotrexate. This post hoc analysis assessed patients with lower (age <65 years; no CV risk factors) and higher CV risk (age ≥65 years and/or ≥1 CV risk factor). Safety and efficacy outcomes were compared between upadacitinib and adalimumab over the short term (~6 months) and long term (5 years) based on CV risk.

resultsThe study included 211 lower-risk patients (upadacitinib, n=129; adalimumab, n=82) and 767 higher-risk patients (upadacitinib, n=522; adalimumab, n=245). Rates of malignancy excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), major adverse cardiovascular event and venous thromboembolism were comparable between upadacitinib and adalimumab in both risk groups but numerically higher in the higher-risk group. Upadacitinib showed higher rates of herpes zoster versus adalimumab in both risk groups and numerically higher rates of serious infection and NMSC in the higher-risk group. Upadacitinib demonstrated consistently better efficacy outcomes, including 28-joint Disease Activity Score (C reactive protein) <2.6, Clinical Disease Activity Index remission and Boolean remission at 6 months, which were generally maintained through 5 years.

conclusionsRegardless of baseline CV risk, upadacitinib demonstrated comparable safety to adalimumab, except for higher rates of herpes zoster in both CV risk groups and NMSC and serious infections in the higher-risk group. Upadacitinib consistently showed better clinical and functional outcomes than adalimumab. The benefit-risk profile of upadacitinib in RA patients was favourable, independent of CV risk category, in both short and long term.

Indexed as

AdalimumabAntirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidCardiovascular DiseasesHeterocyclic Compounds, 3-RingAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRisk AssessmentTreatment OutcomeAdalimumabAntirheumatic AgentsHeterocyclic Compounds, 3-RingupadacitinibAdalimumabArthritis, RheumatoidCardiovascular DiseasesRisk FactorsTherapeutics

Identifiers

PMID40461266
PMCPMC12142088

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.