Leflunomide is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis.
Recent or concurrent treatment with hepatotoxic or haematotoxic DMARDs (e.g. methotrexate) may result in an increased risk of serious adverse reactions; therefore, the initiation of leflunomide treatment has to be carefully considered regarding these benefit/risk aspects.
Moreover, switching from leflunomide to another DMARD without following the washout procedure may also increase the risk of serious adverse reactions even for a long time after the switching.
For this indication, competent medicine agencies globally authorize below treatments:
Oral
20 - 100 mg
From 20 To 100 mg once every day
100 mg
Leflunomide therapy is started with a loading dose of 100 mg once daily for 3 days.
The recommended maintenance dose is leflunomide 20 mg once daily.
The therapeutic effect usually starts after 4 to 6 weeks and may further improve up to 4 to 6 months.