News

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)…

Antibiotic mix may prevent serious infections with rituximab for GPA

The combination antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) may help prevent serious infections for people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) who are taking the immunosuppressant rituximab, a study of U.S. data shows. Preventive treatment, or prophylaxis, with TMP-SMX in people with this common type of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) tended to…

1 in 4 patients may relapse on rituximab maintenance, study finds

About a quarter of people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) under maintenance treatment with rituximab experience relapses, mainly during the first two years. That’s according to a real-world study in Greece that looked at data from 101 people with GPA or MPA, the two most common…