Efficacy and Safety of Upadacitinib Monotherapy in Methotrexate-Naive Patients With Moderately-to-Severely Active Rheumatoid Arthritis (SELECT-EARLY)

Objective: The SELECT-EARLY trial was undertaken to study the effect of upadacitinib, an oral, reversible Janus kinase 1–selective inhibitor, as monotherapy in patients with predominantly early rheumatoid arthritis who were naive for or had limited exposure to methotrexate (MTX). Methods: Patients (n = 947) were randomized 1:1:1 to receive once-daily doses of upadacitinib 15 mg or 30 mg or weekly MTX (7.5–20 mg/week) for 24 weeks. The primary end points were the proportion of patients who met the American College of Rheumatology 50% (ACR50) improvement criteria at week 12, and the proportion in whom a Disease Activity Score in 28 joints using the C-reactive protein level (DAS28-CRP) of