Abatacept is a selective T-cell co-stimulation modulator, that modulates the CD80/CD86:CD28 co-stimulatory signal required for full T-cell activation.1 The mechanism of action of abatacept is fundamentally different to that of other biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This evidence concerns the gene CD86 and rheumatoid arthritis.