Eckstein F, Hochberg MC, Guehring H, et al. - Researchers conducted a FORWARD (FGF-18 Osteoarthritis Randomized Trial with Administration of Repeated Doses) trial to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the potential disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug (DMOAD) sprifermin in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Individuals were assigned randomly to intra-articular sprifermin 100 µg or 30 µg every 6 months (q6mo) or 12 months, or placebo, for 18 months. 378 (69%) patients completed the 5-year follow-up. The data exhibited that sprifermin maintained long-term structural modification of articular cartilage over 3.5 years post-treatment in the longest DMOAD trial reported to date. As per the outcomes, potential translation to clinical benefit was found in the subgroup at risk.