AS/Spondyloarthritis

The diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is clinical, however, there are still unmet needs, particularly in the diagnosis of early disease and evaluation of disease activity and progression. As imaging technology continues to evolve, its role in axSpA management is expected to expand, offering more precise, individualized care. Here are two studies presented at EULAR 2025.

Most patients with early, active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) who quickly received a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor experienced remission, and it didn't matter whether or not they had intestinal inflammation at baseline, a small single-arm study found.

The management of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) continues to evolve with the integration of artificial intelligence and digital health technologies. At #EULAR2025, the Bechterew-App Trial (LB0002) presented important new data on Axia, a novel AI-powered digital therapeutic developed for axSpA.

IL-17 inhibitors are an effective therapeutic for a broad spectrum of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and its blockade has revolutionized management of diseases such as psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and SpA. Is there a need for more medications within the same therapeutic class?

New work presented at the 2025 annual EULAR congress in Barcelona focuses on the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV), which contains recombinant glycoprotein E – the major target of CD4+T-cells. The abstract describes the tolerability and safety of RZV in patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (iRMD), showcasing interim data from an ongoing study.

The longest studied drug for uveitis in SpA has been monocolonal TNFi Abs. Reductions of acute anterior uveitis have been found with etanercept but less impressively than adalimumab, infliximab, and in my opinion less than golimumab and certolizumab pegol. Other data have emerged for JAKi and IL17i, with respect to acute anterior uveitis.

The concept of Difficult-to-Manage (D2M) axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a recent development, with the first expert consensus definition published by the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) earlier this year. This unified definition has stimulated a wave of new research globally, with multiple studies analysing D2M axSpA in diverse clinical cohorts.