Choquette D, et al. - Using data from patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Quebec, Canada, enrolled in the Rhumadata registry, researchers evaluated the long-term persistence of abatacept and a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) following an inadequate response to a conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (csDMARD; first-line biologic agent initiation cohort) or a first a biologic DMARD (bDMARD; second-line biologic agent initiation cohort). They identified 705 patients who met the selection criteria for first-line biologic agent initiation (abatacept, n = 92; TNFi, n = 613) and 317 patients who met the criteria for second-line biologic agent initiation (abatacept, n = 105; TNFi, n = 212). At 9 years, they noted similar persistence rates with abatacept and TNFi use as a first-line biologic agent. Compared to a TNFi, abatacept had better persistence rates as a second-line biologic agent.