Tapering biologics in stable RA held control at 24 weeks, and ianalumab moved Sjögren activity only slightly

The edition in brief

Today's rheumatology edition. In a 24-week open-label randomised non-inferiority trial of 348 people with rheumatoid arthritis in sustained low disease activity on biologic or targeted synthetic DMARDs, low disease activity was kept by 88.2% after stepwise tapering and 89.6% on continued dosing, meeting non-inferiority, and most who flared regained control after re-escalation. Two 52-week phase 3 trials of 779 people with active Sjögren's disease found monthly ianalumab reduced ESSDAI by about 1 point more than placebo, without improving response rates or patient-reported symptoms. In a matched US cohort of 187,106 people, autoimmune rheumatic disease was associated with a 56% higher risk of coded long COVID, with rituximab and glucocorticoid exposure linked to more risk. A single-centre registry found rituximab and belimumab achieved similar rates of lupus low disease activity. The pearl covers how to taper a biologic safely.