Aim To assess impact of pre-specified patient characteristics on efficacy and safety of subcutaneous tanezumab in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Methods Data were pooled from two (efficacy; N = 1545) or three (safety; N = 1754) phase 3 placebo-controlled trials. Change from baseline to week 16 in Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) Pain, WOMAC Physical Function, and patient global assessment of OA (PGA-OA) scores was compared between tanezumab (2.5 and 5 mg) and placebo groups via analysis of covariance. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were summarized descriptively. Analyses were done in patient subgroups (male or female; age <65, ≥65, or ≥75 years; body mass index [BMI] <25, 25 to <30, 30 to <35, or ≥35 kg/m2; diabetes or no diabetes; baseline WOMAC Pain score <7 or ≥7; and Kellgren-Lawrence [KL] grade 2, 3, or 4 in the index joint) and the overall population). Results In all subgroups, improvements in WOMAC Pain were numerically greater and often statistically significant (P < .05) for both tanezumab groups compared with placebo. Results were similar for WOMAC Function and PGA-OA. TEAE profiles were generally consistent across subgroups and similar to the overall population (i.e., slightly higher rates of TEAEs, serious TEAEs, and severe TEAEs with tanezumab relative to placebo) with a few exceptions. Exceptions included females reporting slightly more TEAEs with tanezumab than males, and patients with diabetes reporting slightly more severe TEAEs with tanezumab than patients without diabetes. Additionally, TEAEs were more frequent with tanezumab than placebo in the age ≥65 and ≥75 years, but not the age <65 years, subgroups. Conclusions Efficacy and safety/tolerability of tanezumab may not be meaningfully impacted by gender, age, BMI, diabetes status, baseline pain severity or KL grade in the index joint. Conclusions are limited by low patient number in some subgroups.