| Sources (reference) | No. of randomised patients (no. of patients treated*) | No. who completed the follow-up | RA characteristics | Study protocol with doses (no. of patients treated*in each group) | Duration of follow-up (weeks) |
| Rituximab | |||||
| Edwards et al, 2004 10 | 161 (161) | 130 | Active RA despite MTX | ⩾10 mg per week of MTX+placebo (40) 1000 mg on days 1 and 15 of rituximab (40) 1000 mg on days 1 and 15 of rituximab+750 mg on days 3 and 17 of cyclophosphamide (41) 1000 mg on days 1 and 15 of rituximab+ ⩾10 mg per week of MTX (40) | 48 |
| Emery et al, 2006 22 | 465 (465) | 375 | Active RA resistant to DMARDs, including biological agents | 10–25 mg per week of MTX+placebo (149) 1000 mg on days 1 and 15 of rituximab+ 10–25 mg per week of MTX (192) 500 mg on days 1 and 15 of rituximab+ 10–25 mg per week of MTX (124) | 24 |
| Cohen et al, 2006 23 | 520 (517) | 366 | Active RA despite TNF-α blockers | 10–25 mg per week of MTX+placebo (209) 10–25 mg per week of MTX+1000 mg on days 1 and 15 of rituximab (308) | 24 |
| Abatacept | |||||
| Moreland et al, 2002 9 | 122 (122) | 90 | Refractory RA despite DMARDs or etanercept | Placebo (32) 0.5 mg/kg of abatacept on days 1, 15, 29 and 57 (26) 2 mg/kg of abatacept on days 1, 15, 29 and 57 (32) 10 mg/kg of abatacept on days 1, 15, 29 and 57 (32) | 12 |
| Kremer et al, 2003 and 2005 24 25 | 339 (339) | 235 | Active RA despite MTX | 10–30 mg per week of MTX+placebo (119) 10–30 mg per week of MTX+abatacept 2 mg/kg on days 1, 15 and 30 and every 30 days thereafter (105) 10–30 mg per week of MTX+abatacept 10 mg/kg on days 1, 15 and 30 and every 30 days (115) | 48 |
| Genovese et al, 2005 26 | 393 (391) | 322 | Active RA despite at least 3 months of TNF-α blocker | DMARDs+placebo (133) DMARDs+10 mg/kg of abatacept on days 1, 15, 29 and every 28 days (258) | 24 |
| Kremer et al, 2006 27 | 656 (652) | 547 | Active RA despite MTX | ⩾15 mg per week of MTX+placebo (219) ⩾15 mg per week of MTX+10 mg/kg of abatacept on days 1, 15 and 29, and every 28 days (433) | 48 |
| Weinblatt et al, 2006 28 | 1456 (1441) | 1231 | Active RA despite biological or non-biological DMARDs | At least 1 non-biological DMARD+placebo (418) 1 biological DMARD+placebo (64) At least 1 non-biological DMARD+10 mg/kg of abatacept on days 1, 15 and 29 and every 4 weeks thereafter for a total of 14 infusions (856) 1 biological DMARD+10 mg/kg of abatacept on days 1, 15 and 29 and every 4 weeks thereafter for a total of 14 infusions (103) | 48 |
| Anakinra | |||||
| Bresnihan et al, 1998 8 | 472 (472) | 468 | Active and severe RA | Placebo (121) 30 mg daily of anakinra (119) 75 mg daily of anakinra (116) 150 mg daily of anakinra (116) | 24 |
| Cohen et al, 2002 29 | 419 (419) | 331 | Moderate to severe active RA despite MTX | MTX (15–25 mg/wk)+placebo (74) MTX (15–25 mg/wk)+daily 0.04 or 0.01 or 0.4 or 1 or 2 mg/kg of anakinra (345) | 24 |
| Cohen et al, 2004 30 | 506 (501) | 492 | Active RA despite MTX | MTX (10–25 mg/wk)+placebo (251) MTX (10–25 mg/wk)+100 mg per day of anakinra (250) | 24 |
| Schiff et al, 2004† 31 | 1414 (1399) | 1105 | Active RA with and without comorbidity factor | DMARDS+placebo (283) DMARD+100 mg per day of anakinra (1116) | 24 |
RA, rheumatoid arthritis; MTX, methotrexate; DMARDs, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; wk, week.
*Number of patients who received at least one dose of study medication in this arm of randomisation and were analysed.
†Including 951 patients with comorbidity factors (775 in the anakinra group and 196 in the placebo group).