Vasculitis UK Funds 4 Research Projects in AAV, Other Vasculitis

Vasculitis UK has awarded a total of £200,000 (about $283,000) in four grants to research projects mostly focused on the development of new therapeutic approaches and biomarkers for ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) and other vasculitis. All grants, each about £50,000 (about $70,800), were given to researchers at academic institutions…

Receiving a chronic illness diagnosis can be frustrating and full of apparent dichotomies. After years of searching for answers, a diagnosis is a welcome end, but it also signals a beginning.  The doctors pronounced my disease to be granulomatosis with polyangiitis (called Wegener’s granulomatosis when I first…

Eurordis opened a campaign, called Rare 2030 Action, that is seeking to establish a European action plan for rare diseases to ensure that none of the 30 million people in Europe living with rare diseases are left behind by the start of a new decade. As part of…

The Vasculitis Foundation‘s Excellence in Diagnostics (V-RED) award program — which has grown into an awareness campaign — is this year honoring an endocrinologist, a primary care physician, and a critical care doctor. Launched in 2014, the V-RED awards seek to recognize medical providers globally who made critical…

About one-third of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) or other forms of vasculitis postponed at least one of their healthcare visits during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but most continued adhering to treatment, a survey reveals. Moreover, patients with vasculitis are complying with advice to stay at…

Being underweight at diagnosis, with a low body mass index (BMI), is associated with a significantly greater risk of severe infections in older adults with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), a recent study in Japan reports. Other significant predictors of severe infection included…

A group of European experts have drafted a series of recommendations for the use of immunosuppressive therapies, such as rituximab, and the timing for COVID-19 vaccination in people with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Most treatment plans will require a tailored approach, and a likely delay in immunosuppressive doses during vaccination,…

Adding vilobelimab (IFX-1) to standard of care treatment is safe and well-tolerated among patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), according to top-line results from the ongoing Phase 2 IXPLORE study. Some participants also showed clinical response and remission, although the study was not designed to assess the statistical significance…

The likelihood of developing ANCA-associated vasculitis rises significantly among people living near quarries that extract quartz with silica, a data analysis from France reported.  Its findings also support silica exposure as a specific environmental risk factor for this disease. …

A committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — which provides the agency with non-binding recommendations from independent medical experts — has narrowly supported the approval of avacopan for the treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). In the final segment of a public meeting,…