Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were treated with rituximab or JAK inhibitors appeared to have more severe COVID-19 disease course, suggested data analysis from a large registry.

An adjusted multivariate analysis revealed that in comparison with patients treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, those treated with rituximab had a 4 times increased risk for worse disease (OR 4.15, 95% CI 3.16-5.44), and those treated with JAK inhibitors had a 2 times higher risk (OR 2.06, 95% CI 1.60-2.65), reported an investigator at the European League Against Rheumatism virtual congress.

It was noted that around 85% of the patients on TNF inhibitors were not hospitalized, and the findings were similar for IL-6 inhibitors. Patients on rituximab therapy were frequently hospitalized, requiring oxygen or mechanical ventilation (22%), while 15% succumbed. Patients treated with JAK inhibitors also had a high proportion of hospitalizations requiring oxygen or ventilation (15%)… (Medpage Today)