John Tesser, MD: Improving Outcomes in RA With Vagus Nerve Stimulation

A vagus nerve stimulation device was effective in improving outcomes in adults with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease and inadequate response or intolerance to at least 1 biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARD) or targeted-synthetic DMARD (tsDMARD). Implantation was well-tolerated.

These findings, from the phase 3 RESET-RA (NCT04539964) trial, were presented by John Tesser, MD, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine, Midwestern University, and Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Lecturer, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, and Arizona Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2024, held November 14-19 in Washington, DC.

“If we have a new therapy where [the] safety profile is better, that would be a real game changer for a lot of patients. Now we have to look at longer term data in a lot of patients, but we're hopeful that that will continue, because this is really resetting the neuro immune regulatory system back towards what we hope is the normal balance, and hopefully we don't allow for an over-suppression in that respect,” Tesser told HCPLive® during the meeting.

In this clip, Tesser went over the design of the study and the baseline characteristics of the participants, pointing out that two-thirds had been on more than one advanced therapy. He went over the implantation of the vagus nerve stimulation device and the stimulation scheme. He noted the positive efficacy seen with the device compared to control and noted that this seemed to vary depending on previous biologics received.

REFERENCE

Tesser J, June J, Wickersham P, et al. Neuroimmune Modulation in Adults with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Inadequate Response or Intolerance to Biological or Targeted Synthetic DMARDs: Results at 12 and 24 Weeks from a Randomized, Sham-Controlled, Double-Blind Pivotal Study. Presented at: ACR Convergence 2024; November 14-19; Washington, DC. Abstract L10.