To examine the association between biologics for rheumatoid arthritis and serious infections (hepatitis B, hepatitis C, tuberculosis, pneumonia and sepsis), we analyzed the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report database (JADER) of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). The reporting odds ratio was calculated and used to detect spontaneous report signals, with detection defined as a lower limit >1 in a 95% confidence interval. In addition, time to onset and age at onset of tuberculosis were investigated. Drug-reaction pairs were identified in both FAERS (n = 29,017,485) and JADER (n = 2,079,653). In both databases, significant associations were observed between biologics and infections (hepatitis B, tuberculosis, pneumonia and sepsis). JADER data revealed a significant association of etanercept with hepatitis C. In FAERS, the majority of tuberculosis events, associated with all drugs, were observed within 1 month of administration, whereas most tuberculosis infections associated with biologics were observed during the 5 months following administration. In JADER, most cases of tuberculosis associated with all drugs and with biologics, respectively, were observed during the 2 months after administration. In conclusion, hepatitis C associated with etanercept treatment should be closely monitored in clinical practice. In addition, tuberculosis associated with biologics should be carefully monitored for 5 months following drug administration. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.
