News

Phase 1 trial of CAR T-cell therapy will soon enroll AAV patients

A Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the safety and preliminary efficacy of Adicet Bio’s CAR T-cell therapy ADI-001 in people with autoimmune diseases, including ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), has started recruiting certain participants — and it’s expected to enroll AAV patients by the end of the year — the…

CT scan damage may predict ANCA-associated vasculitis outcomes

Patterns of lung damage on CT scans may help predict disease outcomes in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and determine which patients should receive more intensive treatment, a study in Germany suggests. Particularly, ground glass opacities (GGO), which are white diffuse regions due to fluid, airway collapse, tissue scarring,…

Fasenra approval for EGPA in EU recommended by committee

A European Medicines Agency (EMA) committee has issued a positive opinion recommending the approval of Fasenra (benralizumab) as an add-on treatment for adults with hard-to-treat eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). If approved for the recommended indication, the AstraZeneca therapy would be a new option for patients in…

FDA approves Fasenra for treating adults with rare AAV form EGPA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Fasenra (benralizumab) for treating adults with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare form of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Developed by AstraZeneca, Fasenra was already approved in more than 80 countries, including the U.S., as an add-on treatment…

Rituximab may raise risks of adverse events in AAV: Study

Rituximab may be associated with a higher risk of serious adverse events, particularly infections, in people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). Time to first serious adverse event, as well as to second and multiple serious adverse events, is significantly shorter for patients treated with rituximab…

Treating ANCA-associated vasculitis with rituximab tied to HGG risk

ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients treated with rituximab are up to four times more likely to develop hypogammaglobulinemia (HGG), or low blood levels of antibodies that help fight off infections, than people with other autoimmune conditions. That’s according to a real-world study in China that also found that higher…

Rituximab treatment more effective than cyclophosphamide for GPA

Treatment with rituximab is superior to cyclophosphamide at inducing disease remission in people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), according to a single-center study in Iran. While the safety profiles of the two therapies were comparable, treatment with rituximab was more effective, the study found. Specifically, about 90% of…

AI model identifies AAV subgroups that better predict outcomes

Using data from the largest ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patient database compiled to date, researchers identified five new subgroups that predict patient outcomes better than classifying patients according to granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), two AAV subtypes. The new disease clusters, identified with advanced artificial intelligence (AI)…