A Study Comparing Upadacitinib (ABT-494) to Placebo and to Adalimumab in Adults With Rheumatoid Arthritis Who Are on a Stable Dose of Methotrexate and Who Have an Inadequate Response to Methotrexate

Summary

The purpose of this study was to assess efficacy, including inhibition of radiographic progression, and safety with upadacitinib versus placebo and versus an active comparator, adalimumab, in adults with with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are on a stable background of methotrexate (MTX and who have an inadequate response to MTX.

Timeline

Start

2015-12-01

Primary completion

2017-10-27

Completion

2027-09-30

Publications

• Background Fleischmann R, Pangan AL, Song IH, Mysler E, Bessette L, Peterfy C, Durez P, Ostor AJ, Li Y, Zhou Y, Othman AA, Genovese MC. Upadacitinib Versus Placebo or Adalimumab in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis and an Inadequate Response to Methotrexate: Results of a Phase III, Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2019 Nov;71(11):1788-1800. doi: 10.1002/art.41032. Epub 2019 Aug 28.
• Fleischmann R, Swierkot J, Durez P, Bessette L, Blanco R, Van den Bosch F, Geem D, Luo L, Smith LD, Caballero D, Meerwein S, Peterfy C, Tanaka Y, Mysler E. Long-term safety and efficacy of upadacitinib compared with adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: 7-year data from the SELECT-COMPARE study. RMD Open. 2026 Jun 24;12(2):e006657. doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2025-006657.
• Burmester GR, Deodhar A, Irvine AD, Panaccione R, Winthrop KL, Vleugels RA, Levy G, Suravaram S, Palac H, Wegrzyn L, Ford S, Meerwein S, Guttman-Yassky E. Safety Profile of Upadacitinib: Descriptive Analysis in Over 27,000 Patient-Years Across Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Axial Spondyloarthritis, Atopic Dermatitis, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Adv Ther. 2025 Oct;42(10):5215-5237. doi: 10.1007/s12325-025-03328-y. Epub 2025 Aug 28.
• Winthrop KL, Klaff J, Penn SK, Liu Y, Garcia C, Mysler E, Wells AF, Bu X, Fish I, Chen M, Cunningham AL. Immunogenicity of adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with upadacitinib: 60-week results from a randomised controlled trial substudy. RMD Open. 2025 Aug 12;11(3):e005521. doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2025-005521.
• Gossec L, Patel J, Kadakia A, Fang S, Peng Y, Strengholt S, Taylor PC, Ostor A. Association between rapid and sustained remission and clinician- and patient-reported outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: post hoc analysis of data from the SELECT-COMPARE study. Arthritis Res Ther. 2025 Jun 13;27(1):123. doi: 10.1186/s13075-025-03580-1.
• Fleischmann R, Swierkot J, Penn SK, Durez P, Bessette L, Bu X, Khan N, Li Y, Peterfy CG, Tanaka Y, Mysler E. Long-term safety and efficacy of upadacitinib versus adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: 5-year data from the phase 3, randomised SELECT-COMPARE study. RMD Open. 2024 May 28;10(2):e004007. doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2023-004007.
• Fleischmann R, Blanco R, Van den Bosch F, Bessette L, Song Y, Penn SK, McDearmon-Blondell E, Khan N, Chan K, Mysler E. Long-term Efficacy and Safety Following Switch Between Upadacitinib and Adalimumab in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: 5-Year Data from SELECT-COMPARE. Rheumatol Ther. 2024 Jun;11(3):599-615. doi: 10.1007/s40744-024-00658-1. Epub 2024 Mar 18.
• Rubbert-Roth A, Kakehasi AM, Takeuchi T, Schmalzing M, Palac H, Coombs D, Liu J, Anyanwu SI, Lippe R, Curtis JR. Malignancy in the Upadacitinib Clinical Trials for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, and Non-radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis. Rheumatol Ther. 2024 Feb;11(1):97-112. doi: 10.1007/s40744-023-00621-6. Epub 2023 Nov 20.
• Charles-Schoeman C, Choy E, McInnes IB, Mysler E, Nash P, Yamaoka K, Lippe R, Khan N, Shmagel AK, Palac H, Suboticki J, Curtis JR. MACE and VTE across upadacitinib clinical trial programmes in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. RMD Open. 2023 Nov;9(4):e003392. doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2023-003392.
• Fleischmann R, Curtis JR, Charles-Schoeman C, Mysler E, Yamaoka K, Richez C, Palac H, Dilley D, Liu J, Strengholt S, Burmester G. Safety profile of upadacitinib in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease: integrated post hoc analysis of the SELECT phase III rheumatoid arthritis clinical programme. Ann Rheum Dis. 2023 Sep;82(9):1130-1141. doi: 10.1136/ard-2023-223916. Epub 2023 Jun 12.
• Conaghan PG, Pavelka K, Hsieh SC, Bonnington TL, Kent TC, Marchbank K, Edwards CJ. Evaluating the efficacy of upadacitinib in patients with moderate rheumatoid arthritis: a post-hoc analysis of the SELECT phase 3 trials. Rheumatol Adv Pract. 2023 Feb 8;7(1):rkad017. doi: 10.1093/rap/rkad017. eCollection 2023.
• Burmester GR, Cohen SB, Winthrop KL, Nash P, Irvine AD, Deodhar A, Mysler E, Tanaka Y, Liu J, Lacerda AP, Palac H, Shaw T, Mease PJ, Guttman-Yassky E. Safety profile of upadacitinib over 15 000 patient-years across rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and atopic dermatitis. RMD Open. 2023 Feb;9(1):e002735. doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002735.
• Kakehasi AM, Radominski SC, Baravalle MD, Palazuelos FCI, Garcia-Garcia C, Arruda MS, Curi M, Liu J, Qiao M, Velez-Sanchez P, Vargas JI. Safety of upadacitinib in Latin American patients with rheumatoid arthritis: an integrated safety analysis of the SELECT phase 3 clinical program. Clin Rheumatol. 2023 May;42(5):1249-1258. doi: 10.1007/s10067-023-06513-y. Epub 2023 Jan 30.
• Bergman M, Buch MH, Tanaka Y, Citera G, Bahlas S, Wong E, Song Y, Zueger P, Ali M, Strand V. Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Long-Term Upadacitinib Therapy in Five Randomized Controlled Trials. Rheumatol Ther. 2022 Dec;9(6):1517-1529. doi: 10.1007/s40744-022-00483-4. Epub 2022 Sep 20.
• Mysler E, Tanaka Y, Kavanaugh A, Aletaha D, Taylor PC, Song IH, Shaw T, Song Y, DeMasi R, Ali M, Fleischmann R. Impact of initial therapy with upadacitinib or adalimumab on achievement of 48-week treatment goals in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: post hoc analysis of SELECT-COMPARE. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2023 May 2;62(5):1804-1813. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keac477.
• Peterfy CG, Strand V, Friedman A, Hall S, Mysler E, Durez P, Baraliakos X, Enejosa JV, Shaw T, Li Y, Chen S, Song IH. Inhibition of structural joint damage progression with upadacitinib in rheumatoid arthritis: 1-year outcomes from the SELECT phase 3 program. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022 Aug 3;61(8):3246-3256. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab861.
• Yamaoka K, Tanaka Y, Kameda H, Khan N, Sasaki N, Harigai M, Song Y, Zhang Y, Takeuchi T. The Safety Profile of Upadacitinib in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in Japan. Drug Saf. 2021 Jun;44(6):711-722. doi: 10.1007/s40264-021-01067-x. Epub 2021 May 27.
• Strand V, Tundia N, Bergman M, Ostor A, Durez P, Song IH, Enejosa J, Schlacher C, Song Y, Fleischmann R. Upadacitinib improves patient-reported outcomes vs placebo or adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: results from SELECT-COMPARE. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 Dec 1;60(12):5583-5594. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab158.
• Fleischmann RM, Blanco R, Hall S, Thomson GTD, Van den Bosch FE, Zerbini C, Bessette L, Enejosa J, Li Y, Song Y, DeMasi R, Song IH. Switching between Janus kinase inhibitor upadacitinib and adalimumab following insufficient response: efficacy and safety in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2021 Apr;80(4):432-439. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-218412. Epub 2020 Nov 4.
• Cohen SB, van Vollenhoven RF, Winthrop KL, Zerbini CAF, Tanaka Y, Bessette L, Zhang Y, Khan N, Hendrickson B, Enejosa JV, Burmester GR. Safety profile of upadacitinib in rheumatoid arthritis: integrated analysis from the SELECT phase III clinical programme. Ann Rheum Dis. 2021 Mar;80(3):304-311. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-218510. Epub 2020 Oct 28.
• Nader A, Mohamed MF, Winzenborg I, Doelger E, Noertersheuser P, Pangan AL, Othman AA. Exposure-Response Analyses of Upadacitinib Efficacy and Safety in Phase II and III Studies to Support Benefit-Risk Assessment in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2020 Apr;107(4):994-1003. doi: 10.1002/cpt.1671. Epub 2019 Nov 30.
• Fleischmann RM, Genovese MC, Enejosa JV, Mysler E, Bessette L, Peterfy C, Durez P, Ostor A, Li Y, Song IH. Safety and effectiveness of upadacitinib or adalimumab plus methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis over 48 weeks with switch to alternate therapy in patients with insufficient response. Ann Rheum Dis. 2019 Nov;78(11):1454-1462. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-215764. Epub 2019 Jul 30.

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Indications