A Study to Evaluate the Nipocalimab and Certolizumab Combination Therapy in Participants With Active Rheumatoid Arthritis

ACR20 response is defined as: greater than or equal to (>=)20 percent (%) improvement from baseline in both swollen joint count (66 joints) and tender joint count (68 joints), and >=20% improvement from baseline in 3 of 5 assessments: patient's assessment of pain using visual analog scale (VAS; 0-100 millimeters [mm], 0=no pain and 100=worst possible pain), patient's global assessment of disease activity (arthritis, VAS; 0-100 mm, 0=excellent and 100= poor), physician's global assessment of disease activity (arthritis, VAS; 0-100 mm, 0=no arthritis activity and 100=extremely active arthritis), patient's assessment of physical function as measured by Disability Index of Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ-DI; 20-question instrument assessing 8 functional areas; range: 0-3, 0= no difficulty, 3= inability to perform task in that area), and CRP.

Percentage of participants who achieved ACR50 at Week 12 were reported. ACR50 response is defined as: >=50% improvement from baseline in both tender joint count (68 joints) and swollen joint count (66 joints), and >=50% improvement from baseline in 3 of 5 assessments: patient's assessment of pain using visual analog scale (VAS; 0-100 mm, 0=no pain and 100=worst possible pain), patient's global assessment of disease activity (arthritis, VAS; 0-100 mm, 0=excellent and 100= poor), physician's global assessment of disease activity (VAS; 0-100 mm, 0=no arthritis activity and 100=extremely active arthritis), patient's assessment of physical function as measured by Disability Index of Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ-DI; 20-question instrument assessing 8 functional areas; range: 0-3, 0= no difficulty, 3= inability to perform task in that area), and CRP.

Percentage of participants who achieved ACR70 response at Week 12 were reported. ACR70 response is defined as: >=70% improvement from baseline in both swollen joint count (66 joints) and tender joint count (68 joints), and >=70% improvement from baseline in 3 of 5 assessments: patient's assessment of pain using VAS (0-100 mm, 0=no pain and 100=worst possible pain), patient's global assessment of disease activity (arthritis, VAS; 0-100 mm, 0=excellent and 100= poor), physician's global assessment of disease activity (arthritis, VAS; 0-100 mm, 0=no arthritis activity and 100=extremely active arthritis), patient's assessment of physical function as measured by (HAQ-DI) 20-question instrument assessing 8 functional areas; range: 0-3, 0= no difficulty, 3= inability to perform task in that area), and CRP.

Percentage of participants who achieved ACR90 response at Week 12 were reported. ACR90 response is defined as: >=90% improvement from baseline in both swollen joint count (66 joints) and tender joint count (68 joints), and >=90% improvement from baseline in 3 of 5 assessments: patient's assessment of pain using VAS (0-100 mm, 0=no pain and 100=worst possible pain), patient's global assessment of disease activity (arthritis, VAS; 0-100 mm, 0=excellent and 100= poor), physician's global assessment of disease activity (VAS; 0-100 mm, 0=no arthritis activity and 100=extremely active arthritis), patient's assessment of physical function as measured by HAQ-DI (20-question instrument assessing 8 functional areas; range: 0-3, 0= no difficulty, 3= inability to perform task in that area), and CRP.

The DAS28 remission is defined as DAS28 -CRP value of less than (<) 2.6 at Week 12. The DAS28 is a composite index used to assess rheumatoid arthritis disease activity, calculated based on the tender joint count (out of 28 evaluated joints), swollen joint count (out of 28 evaluated joints), Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity, and CRP (in milligrams per liter [mg/L]). The set of 28 joint count was based on evaluation of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, metacarpophalangeal (MCP) MCP1 to MCP5, proximal interphalangeal (PIP) PIP1 to PIP5 joints of both the upper right extremity and the upper left extremity as well as the knee joints of lower right and lower left extremities. Score on the DAS28 ranged from 0 to 10, where higher scores indicated more disease activity. Negative changes from baseline indicated improvement of arthritis.

Percentage of participants who achieved DAS28-CRP LDA at Week 12 were reported. DAS28 LDA is defined as a DAS28 value of less than or equal to (<=3.2) at a visit. The DAS28 is a composite index used to assess rheumatoid arthritis disease activity, calculated based on the tender joint count (out of 28 evaluated joints), swollen joint count (out of 28 evaluated joints), Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity, and CRP (in milligrams per liter [mg/L]). The set of 28 joint count was based on evaluation of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, metacarpophalangeal (MCP) MCP1 to MCP5, proximal interphalangeal (PIP) PIP1 to PIP5 joints of both the upper right extremity and the upper left extremity as well as the knee joints of lower right and lower left extremities. Score on the DAS28 ranged from 0 to 10, where higher scores indicated more disease activity. Negative changes from baseline indicated improvement of arthritis.

Change from baseline in HAQ-DI score at Week 12 were reported. The HAQ-DI is a patient-reported questionnaire that measures the degree of difficulty a person has in accomplishing tasks in 8 functional areas: dressing, arising, eating, walking, hygiene, reaching, gripping, and activities of daily living, over the past week. Responses in each functional area were scored on a scale from 0 (indicating no difficulty) to 3 (inability to perform a task in that area). Overall score was computed as the sum of category scores and divided by the number of categories answered, score ranging from 0 to 3, where 0 represents no disability and 3 represents very severe, high-dependency disability.

Change from baseline in CDAI at Week 12 were reported. The CDAI score is a derived score combining 4 disease assessments: tender joint counts (28 joints), swollen joint counts (28 joints), Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PtGA), and Physician's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PGA). Change from baseline in CDAI score measured the change in disease activity, where a negative change indicated an improvement, and a positive change indicated a worsening. The total score range is 0-76. Score interpretation: Remission <=2.8; Low Disease Activity CDAI > 2.8 and <=10; Moderate Disease Activity CDAI >10 and <=22; High Disease Activity CDAI > 22.