The February edition of ‘Eyes on Evidence’, the free monthly e-bulletin from NHS Evidence covering major new evidence with an explanation about what it means for current practice, includes an expert commentary on new evidence from a meta-analysis which produced a quantitative comparison of all currently licensed biologics, providing estimates on comparative effectiveness and a suggested ranking of treatments.

Twenty trials involving patients with a mean disease duration of 18-22 years were included in the meta-analysis. The analysis suggests a ranking of treatments in terms of effectiveness, the highest being infliximab, followed by ustekinumab, adalimumab, etanercept and efalizumab.

A separate study comparing the efficacy and safety of infliximab with methotrexate, in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis found that a greater proportion of infliximab patients (78%, 509/653) than methotrexate patients (42%, 90/215) met the primary efficacy endpoint, PASI75 response, at week 16.

To sign up for ‘Eyes on Evidence’ go to the registration page at the link below. The current edition will be posted on the website at a later date (see link to back issues).