Warning:Taking tofacitinib may decrease your ability to fight infection and increase the risk that you will get a serious infection, including severe fungal, bacterial, or viral infections that spread through the body. These infections may need to be treated in a hospital and may cause death. Tell your doctor if you often get any type of infection or if you think you may have any type of infection now.

Tofacitinib is used alone or with other medications to treat rheumatoid arthritis (condition in which the body attacks its own joints causing pain, swelling, and loss of function) in people who did not respond to methotrexate (Otrexup, Rasuvo, Trexall). It is also used along with methotrexate, sulfasalazine (Azulfidine), or leflunomide (Arava) to treat psoriatic arthritis (a condition that causes joint pain and swelling and scales on the skin) in people who did not respond to these medications alone. Tofacitinib is used to treat ulcerative colitis (a condition which causes swelling and sores in the lining of the colon [large intestine] and rectum) in people who are unable to take or who did not respond to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor medications. It is also used to treat polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (PJIA; a type of childhood arthritis that affects five or more joints during the first six months of the condition, causing pain, swelling, and loss of function) in children 2 years and older. Tofacitinib is in a class of medications called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors. It works by decreasing the activity of the immune system.

For more information on Xeljanz (Tofacitinib), click here.