Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and destruction of the joints.^1-3 It can also affect the eyes, the heart and the lungs and is associated with significant disability and increased mortality. RA is estimated to affect just under 1% of the population aged over 16 years, equating to more than 400,000 people in the UK.⁴ ▼Baricitinib (Olumiant) and ▼tofacitinib (Xeljanz) were launched in the UK in April 2017 and represent a new therapeutic class of medicines known as targeted synthetic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs.^5,6 Here, we review the evidence for the safety and effectiveness of these new oral agents.