Golimumab-A Review of its Therapeutic Efficacy in Rheumatoid Arthritis

The advent of monoclonal antibodies to Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF), has revolutionized the treatment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). These agents have proved to be highly efficacious, making remission an achievable goal in RA. Golimumab is a human monoclonal antibody to TNF, which is approved by the US FDA for the treatment of RA, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis since April 2009. Golimumab is a useful addition to the therapeutic armamentarium against rheumatoid arthritis. It has proven efficacy in RA patients with active disease, despite treatment with methotrexate and also found to be useful in patients who have failed on a prior anti-TNF agent. It offers a reasonable alternative to other anti-TNF drugs like infliximab, adalimumab or etanercept. The short-term safety profile, based on short-term RCTs, is reasonable with no differences in total adverse events, serious infections, cancer, tuberculosis or deaths. However, Long-term surveillance studies are needed for safety assessment.