Safety and Efficacy of Once-weekly Application of Etanercept in Children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Etanercept – a recombinant TNF receptor fusion protein – has been approved for the treatment of resistant polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Researchers at the University Children’s Hospital Tubingen, Germany, studied the safety and efficacy of once-weekly Etanercept in children with JIA.

0.4 mg/kg was given subcutaneously twice weekly. For adults, 25 mg twice weekly was comparable to 50 mg once weekly. In the German paediatric Etanercept registry, six patients with JIA who received Etanercept once weekly were identified, as were six patients who received Etanercept initially twice-weekly, then once-weekly with increased doses per injection. In both groups, treatment was efficacious and well tolerated. In patients switching from twice to once weekly administration, there was no loss of efficacy and no increase in toxicity. At last observation 10/12 patients achieved an ACR-JRA 30 and 8/12 achieved an ACR-JRA70 response. The researchers concluded that the data indicates that once weekly application of etanercept is safe and efficacious in children.(Source: Kuemmerle-Deschner JB, Horneff G. Safety and efficacy of once-weekly application of Etanercept in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Rheumatol Int. 2007 Jul 20; [Epub ahead of print] : August 2007)