Subcutaneous abatacept for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in routine clinical practice in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland: 2-year retention and efficacy by treatment line and serostatus.

"Competing interests RA has received consulting fees from AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celltrion, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and Roche; and has received grant/research support from Bristol Myers Squibb, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and Roche. BB, PP, AF, and HN declare no competing interests. CR (at time of analysis), MC, SEC, RH, and KL are employees of and shareholders in Bristol Myers Squibb. H-PT has received consulting fees from AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Chugai, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, and Roche."

"Funding This study was sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb. Bristol Myers Squibb was responsible for study design and the execution, collection of data, and analysis and interpretation of data."

"Trial registration number NCT02090556; date registered: March 18, 2014 (retrospectively registered). Key Points• This post hoc analysis of a German-speaking subset of European patients with RA from the global ASCORE study (NCT02090556) showed that retention of SC abatacept within this subset was 47.6%, with good clinical outcomes after 2 years.• Patients with double-seropositive RA (ACPA and RF positive) had higher retention of abatacept than patients with double-seronegative RA (ACPA and RF negative). Retention and clinical responses were highest for patients who were biologic-naïve compared with patients who had one or ≥ two prior biologic treatments.• These real-world data may be useful for clinicians in informing individualized treatment pathways for patients with RA, and fostering superior disease control and clinical outcomes."