• Paul Emery, Gerd R Burmester, Esperanza Naredo, Yijie Zhou, Maja Hojnik, and Philip G Conaghan.
• Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Chapel Allerton Hospital, Leeds, UK.
• BMJ Open. 2018 Feb 28; 8 (2): e019007.

IntroductionThe current American College of Rheumatology and European League Against Rheumatism treatment recommendations advise tapering biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who achieve stable clinical remission while receiving bDMARDs. However, not all patients maintain remission or low disease activity after tapering or discontinuation of bDMARDs. The aim of the ImPact of Residual Inflammation Detected via Imaging TEchniques, Drug Levels and Patient Characteristics on the Outcome of Dose TaperIng of Adalimumab in Clinical Remission Rheumatoid ArThritis (RA) study, or PREDICTRA, is to generate data on patient and disease characteristics that may predict the clinical course of a fixed dose-tapering regimen with the bDMARD adalimumab.Methods And AnalysisPREDICTRA is an ongoing, multicentre, phase IV, randomised, double-blind, parallel-group study of adalimumab dose tapering controlled by withdrawal in participants with RA who achieved stable clinical remission while receiving adalimumab. The study includes a screening period, a 4-week lead-in period with open-label adalimumab 40 mg every other week and a subsequent 36-week double-blind period during which participants are randomised 5:1 to adalimumab 40 mg every 3 weeks (taper arm) or placebo (withdrawal arm). The primary explanatory efficacy variables are lead-in baseline hand and wrist MRI-detected synovitis and bone marrow oedema scores, as well as a composite of both scores; the dependent variable is the occurrence of flare up to week 40. Additional efficacy variables, safety, pharmacokinetics, biomarkers and immunogenicity will also be assessed, and an ultrasound substudy will be conducted.Ethics And DisseminationThe study is conducted in accordance with the International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines, local laws and the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants are required to sign a written informed consent statement before the start of any study procedures.Trial Registration NumberEudraCT 2014-001114-26 and NCT02198651; Pre-results.© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

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