Footnotes

• Handling editor Josef S Smolen

• Contributors OL-C, HA-C, HC, SD, ER and JB-T contributed to the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data, drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content and approved the final version to be published.

• Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

• Competing interests OL-C reports participation to advisory boards from Abbvie, Astra-Zeneca, Janssen and Roche. HAC reports honoraria as speaker from Abbvie, Janssen, Pfizer, Mantra Pharma, Eli Lilly, Amgen, Sobi, AstraZeneca, Sandoz and Novartis; participation to advisory boards from Novartis, Amgen, Hoffmann-La Roche, Eli Lilly, Abbvie, BMS and Novartis; and participation in clinical studies sponsored by Pfizer, Neomed, Daiichi Sankyo Inc, Abbvie, Xencor, Sanofi and Novartis. HA-C, SD, ER report no disclosure. JB-T reports honoraria as speaker from GSK, Teva, Amgen and Pfizer; and participation to advisory boards from Astra-Zeneca, Abbvie, Janssen, Novartis, Teva and Pfizer.

• Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

• Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.