Late-breaking abstracts at EULAR 2026 showcased a series of potentially practice-shaping advances across inflammatory rheumatic disease, including the first head-to-head biologic trial in psoriatic arthritis, early phase signals from cell-based therapy, and emerging targets for polymyalgia rheumatica and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Bimekizumab beats risankizumab in PsA head-to-head
In the BE-BOLD trial, 533 patients with active psoriatic arthritis received either bimekizumab, which blocks both IL-17A and IL-17F, or risankizumab, an IL-23 inhibitor. By week 16, 49% of patients on bimekizumab achieved an ACR50 response, compared with 38% on risankizumab (p=0.0058), Dr Joseph Merola, Chair of Dermatology and Professor of Rheumatology at UT Southwestern, told the congress.
The trial missed significance on its key secondary endpoint, minimal disease activity at week 16. However, more bimekizumab patients reached a composite measure of joint, skin and overall disease activity over 24 weeks (43% vs 40%), although this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.3921), Dr Merola said.
Safety profiles were similar between the two drugs, apart from more cases of Candida infection with bimekizumab, an effect Dr Merola said was expected given the drug’s mechanism. Full safety data will follow once the trial database is locked.
Dr Merola said the results could help guide treatment decisions for PsA.
Nanobody drug shows fast responses in axSpA
Sonelokimab, a nanobody that blocks both IL-17A and IL-17F, produced rapid responses in a small phase II trial in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), Professor Xenofon Baraliakos, EULAR president, told the congress.
In the open-label S-OLARIS study of 26 patients, 77% achieved an ASAS40 response by week 4, rising to 81% by week 12. More than half (14 of 26) reached ASAS partial remission by week 12.
Imaging showed substantial reductions in inflammation and bone-forming activity within joints after 12 weeks, Professor Baraliakos said, suggesting the drug could have disease-modifying effects. Sonelokimab was well tolerated, with no new safety signals.
Professor Baraliakos said the data provided an encouraging proof of concept for sonelokimab in axSpA.
Off-the-shelf cell therapy shows early promise across three diseases
An off-the-shelf natural killer cell therapy made from donated cord blood, called AB-101, showed activity across rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren’s disease and systemic sclerosis in an early-phase trial, researchers reported.
The trial enrolled 15 patients with refractory rheumatoid arthritis, 11 with Sjögren’s disease and five with systemic sclerosis. All patients had improved disease activity scores and joint counts at three months. Among the seven patients followed to six months, swollen and tender joint counts fell by a mean of 73% and 67% respectively, and 71% achieved an ACR50 response.
Mean changes from baseline at six months were -36.8 points for the Clinical Disease Activity Index and -2.6 for the Disease Activity Score 28 using ESR. No patients stopped treatment due to side effects or lack of effect, and none needed new immunomodulatory drugs, the researchers said.
The researchers said the results suggested AB-101, combined with rituximab, could drive deep B-cell depletion and produce clinical responses comparable to CAR T-cell therapy, without its risks or logistical complexity.
Baricitinib helps patients with early PMR come off steroids
Baricitinib, a JAK inhibitor, helped patients with early polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) achieve remission without steroids, according to results from the phase III JAK-SPARE trial presented by Professor Helga Lechner-Radner of the Medical University of Vienna.
The trial randomised 46 patients to baricitinib or placebo for 16 weeks, while glucocorticoids were tapered to zero over the first 11 weeks. By week 16, 65% of patients on baricitinib achieved glucocorticoid-free remission, compared with 17% on placebo (p=0.002).
After a 12-week extension, in which placebo patients crossed over to baricitinib, remission rates reached 65% in the former placebo group and 78% in those who had remained on baricitinib throughout, Professor Lechner-Radner said.
In a final re-randomisation phase involving 33 patients, those who continued on baricitinib 4mg maintained remission in 93% of cases, compared with 72% of those who tapered to 2mg before stopping treatment. This difference did not reach statistical significance (p=0.186).
Professor Lechner-Radner said the results supported baricitinib as an effective steroid-sparing strategy for patients with early PMR.
FcRn blocker shows signal in hard-to-treat lupus
Blocking the neonatal Fc receptor with nipocalimab produced numerical improvements over placebo in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to phase II data presented by Professor Richard Furie of New York.
Patients had long-standing, active disease despite standard therapy and were treated for 52 weeks. At week 24, the primary endpoint, an SRI-4 response, was reached by 53.5% of patients on nipocalimab 15mg/kg, compared with 47% on placebo, but this difference did not reach statistical significance (p=0.081).
By week 52, SRI-4 response rates were 53.6% with nipocalimab versus 39.7% with placebo. A measure of sustained low disease activity was reached by 37.5% of nipocalimab patients and 20.5% of those on placebo at week 52.
Nipocalimab allowed patients to reduce their steroid dose, with the greatest benefits seen in those who tested positive for autoantibodies or had high interferon activity, Professor Furie said. The drug was well tolerated, with no new safety concerns and no link between dose and adverse events.
Professor Furie said the findings supported further evaluation of nipocalimab in the ongoing phase III GARDENIA trial.