EMA Accepts Conditional Application for ANCA Treatment Avacopan

EMA Accepts Conditional Application for ANCA Treatment Avacopan

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted for review ChemoCentryx’s application to approve Avacopan (CCX168) as a treatment for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. The company, with its partner Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma, applied for a Conditional Marketing Authorization (CMA) of the medicine. A CMA…

Rituxan Effective in Keeping ANCA Vasculitis at Bay, Saudi Study Shows

Rituxan (rituximab) effectively induces and maintains remission in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV), a new Saudi study shows. The study, “Systematic review of the role of rituximab in treatment of antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated vasculitis, hepatitis C virus-related cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, Henoch-Schönlein purpura, ankylosing spondylitis, and…

Many ANCA-associated Vasculitis Patients with a Particular Antibody Have Bronchiectasis, Study Shows

Many ANCA-associated vasculitis patients who have a certain type of autoantibody develop the widened-airway condition known as bronchiectasis, a French study shows. The question of whether the respiratory tract is the place where ANCA-associated vasculitis develops remains to be seen, however, the researchers said. The hallmark of ANCA-associated vasculitis is…

IV Cyclophosphamide Better Than Oral Treatment for AAV Patients, Study Suggests

Patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) who receive daily oral cyclophosphamide have increased bone marrow toxicity and tend to be hospitalized more often because of infections, than patients who receive the treatment intravenously. Those findings were detailed in the report “Long-term outcomes of daily oral vs. pulsed…

GSK’s Nucala Approved by FDA as Add-on Therapy for EGPA Patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Nucala (mepolizumab) as an add-on to standard care for treating eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), previously called Churg-Strauss syndrome. “Patients suffering from EGPA too often face a frustrating journey from a delay in receiving a proper diagnosis to having…

Adding Azathioprine to Glucocorticoid Regimen Doesn’t Improve SNV Remission Rates, Study Finds

The addition of azathioprine, an immunosuppressant, to a glucocorticoid treatment regimen does not improve remission rates for patients with non-severe systemic necrotizing vasculitides (SNVs), a new study shows. The study, “Adding Azathioprine to Remission-Induction Glucocorticoids for Eosinophilic Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss), Microscopic Polyangiitis, or Polyarteritis Nodosa Without…