Response to: 'Tapering without relapse in rheumatoid arthritis patients with high TNF blocker concentrations: Data from the STRASS study' by Marotte et al

We thank Marotte et al for their interest in our study and for presenting their own recent study. The Spacing of TNF-blocker injections in Rheumatoid ArthritiS Study (STRASS) results on drug concentrations are highly valuable, as this is a large, pragmatic, randomised trial. Marotte et al found that high drug concentrations were related to lower relapse rates after 6 months of tapering.1 This is in line with our study, where we found that patients with high adalimumab concentrations could safely reduce the dose.2 In the STRASS study, 39% of the patients discontinued the biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) successfully.3 These patients, apparently, did not need the drug anymore, suggesting that …