Rheumatoid Arthritis Test Predicts Patient Response to Drugs

A diagnostic for measuring the severity of rheumatoid arthritis can help guide patient selection for biologic or non-biologic drugs by predicting their response to the various therapies and treatment strategies.

The multi-biomarker blood test for rheumatoid arthritis disease (RA) activity integrates the concentrations of 12 serum proteins associated with RA disease activity into a single objective score, on a scale of 1 to 100, to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions.


A recent study from scientists at Helsingborg Hospital (Sweden) evaluated whether the Vectra DA score could be used to predict the optimal choice of second-line treatment for 157 patients with RA who were incomplete responders to the immunosuppressant methotrexate (MTX). The findings demonstrated that, in patients with early RA and incomplete response to MTX, the Vectra DA test predicted the relative efficacy of second-line treatment with triple therapy versus anti-TNF. A Vectra DA score above 44 being indicative of high disease activity.

Vectra DA is manufactured by Crescendo Bioscience (South San Francisco, CA, USA). Two other studies presented provide guidance to physicians about discontinuation of therapy. One found that patients with a high Vectra DA score and positive results on a single-biomarker test had relapse rate of 76%, compared to 32% among those with a low Vectra DA score. A third study found that high Vectra DA scores were correlated with relapse of the disease in patients tapering their drug therapies. Vectra DA can help identify patients who show clinical improvement, but continue to have high levels of underlying disease activity, making them vulnerable to relapses or flares.

Elena Hitraya, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer at Crescendo, said, “The immunosuppressant methotrexate is the first-line therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, but it isn't always effective. At this point physicians need to make a choice. The options that they have is adding a synthetic biological drug, or adding a biological drug, which is most often anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF).” The studies were presented at the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ACR/ARHP) meeting being held November 7–11, 2015, in San Francisco (CA, USA).

Related Links:
Helsingborg Hospital 
Crescendo Bioscience