Resource

Summary Table of Medication

The following tables give an overview of some key facts about medication used to treat JIA (in alphabetical order). To find out more about these individual drugs, click on the drug name to go to our article about that drug.

Standard DMARDs and biologic drugs are slow-release drugs, so can take a few weeks to start to work (up to around 12 weeks, though improvement may be felt some time before then).

Standard disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs)

Drug name	How the drug is taken	How it works	Are blood tests mandatory?
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)	Tablet	Reduces over activity of the immune system	No
Methotrexate (MTX)	Liquid, tablet, syringe	Reduces over activity of the immune system	Yes – regularly
Sulfasalazine (SSZ)	Tablet	Reduces over activity of the immune system	Yes – initially regularly, then less frequently

Biologic drugs

Drug name	How the drug is taken	How it works	Are blood tests mandatory?
Abatacept (ABA)	Infusion	Reduces over activity of the immune system by targeting T-cells	Yes- every 3 months
Adalimumab (ADA)	Syringe or pen	Reduces over activity of the immune system by targeting TNFα cells	Yes- every 3 months initially
Etanercept (ETN)	Syringe or pen – can be once or twice weekly	Reduces over activity of the immune system by targeting TNFα cells	Yes- every 3 months initially
Tocilizumab (TCZ)	Infusion or subcutaneously In sJIA patients weighing less than 30kg: 162mg every 2 weeks Weighing 30kg or more: 162 mg weekly	Reduces over activity of the immune system by targeting IL6 cells	Yes- every 3 months initially

Newly developed biologic drugs (only available from some specialist centres)

Drug name	How the drug is taken	How it works	Are blood tests mandatory?
Canakinumab	Syringe	Reduces overactivity of the immune system by targeting IL1 cells	Yes- every 3 months initially

Updated: 24/12/2019