Much of the meeting came for the next CAR T readout. AB-101 drew attention for a different reason. It depletes B cells by a completely different route.

MAS, the most severe complication of Still’s disease, is increasingly recognized as a cytokine-driven hyperinflammatory state centered on interferon gamma (IFNγ). Therapeutic advances presented at EULAR 2026 demonstrate both consolidation of established pathways and expansion into novel biologic strategies.

The Janus kinase inhibitor (JAKi) class has been increasingly used in the management of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) over the past five years, offering effective oral alternatives to injectable biologics. But are all JAK inhibitors the same?

B-cell targeting has moved to the centre of IgG4-related disease treatment, with inebilizumab, a CD19 depleter, as the recent benchmark. At EULAR 2026, INDIGO tested whether the disease can be controlled by switching B cells off rather than depleting them.

At EULAR 2026, investigators are presenting perhaps the most biologically compelling data yet from the REGENCY trial, with evidence that obinutuzumab induces deep intrarenal B-cell depletion alongside markedly higher rates of histological remission.

CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy has rapidly moved into autoimmune disease, driven in large part by striking reports in SLE, where sustained drug-free remission has raised the possibility of a true immune reset. In RA, where multiple effective therapeutic classes already exist, the relevance of such deep immune interventions remains uncertain.

Five years on, are we closer to licensing of the first CAR-T therapy in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD)?

At EULAR 2026, Dr Nikolaos Kougkas presented data from a unique real-world cohort built within joint dermatology–rheumatology university centers, following 394 patients with psoriasis on bDMARDs for up to 17 years. We sat down with Dr Kougkas to unpack the methodology, challenge the results, and draw out the clinical implications for everyday practice.

The approach to the treatment of peripheral SpA has been the same for a long time. The guidelines recommend starting with NSAIDs, escalate to conventional synthetic DMARDs, typically sulfasalazine or methotrexate and reserve biologics for patients who fail those. According to a new phase 3 trial presented at EULAR 2026, there may be a different way to approach this.

At EULAR 2026, two large phase 3 studies highlight that the JAK story in axSpA is still evolving rapidly, with different selectivity profiles and expanding global development programs continuing to push the field forward.

At the "What Is New in Psoriatic Arthritis" session at EULAR 2026, Professor Dennis McGonagle (Leeds, UK) took the audience on a whirlwind yet compact tour of the field, touching on three themes: the pathophysiology of PsA, individualization of clinical management, and emerging research and future directions.

Our therapeutic armamentarium in RA keeps on growing. New studies and new molecules, new mechanisms of action or new ways of using old drugs are presented every year at conferences. But which are the ones who can have an impact on our practice? Here is my selection of 3 abstracts presented at EULAR 2026 that identify therapeutic strategies that are well worth keeping on our radar.

Presented at EULAR 2026 London, Brepocitinib dual TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor with successful Phase 3 VALOR trial demonstrating significant improvement in skin and muscle symptoms in dermatomyositis (DM).

Over 70% of patients with PsA struggle with excess weight, amplifying synovio-entheseal inflammation and blunting biologic response. The rapid uptake of GLP-1RAs in rheumatology has raised an urgent mechanistic question: are clinical gains in PsA driven purely by weight reduction, or do these agents carry intrinsic anti-inflammatory properties? EULAR 2026 offered six abstracts that together illuminate, without fully resolving, this question.

Few topics in rheumatology have reshaped prescribing behaviour as dramatically as the safety concerns surrounding JAK inhibitors following ORAL Surveillance and the subsequent FDA and EMA warnings.