The article considers the modern strategy of pharmacotherapy of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which is based on the use of standard disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, primarily methotrexate and glucocorticoids, as well as timely application of a wide range of innovative genetic engineering biological agents - monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins that block the activity of «pro-inflammatory» cytokines and/or pathological activation of T- and B-lymphocytes involved in the development of immunoinflammatory process. Particular attention is paid to the new EULAR recommendations on the strategy and tactics of treatment of early arthritis, which can potentially transform into a reliable RA, being the first manifestation of a wide range of rheumatic diseases, «self-limiting» arthritis or arthritis, which for a long time remains undifferentiated. The importance of developing new approaches to the prevention of RA in high-risk groups is emphasized, and they can lead to radical improvement in prognosis.

Keywords: EULAR recommendations, standard disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, genetically engineered biological preparations, methotrexate, rheumatoid arthritis