Vasculitis and Giant Cell Arteritis News

Tocilizumab plus prednisone was linked to a sixfold reduced risk for treatment failure in patients with giant cell arteritis, with highest risks reported among women and patients treated with prednisone monotherapy, according to data.

Reduced glucocorticoids alongside rituximab are noninferior to a regimen of high-dose glucocorticoids plus rituximab for remission induction at 6 months in patients with new ANCA-associated vasculitis, according to data published in JAMA.

On May 11, Icelandic-based drug developer Alvotech filed a lawsuit against AbbVie seeking to undo what it alleges is a “minefield” of “invalid” patents surrounding what is arguably the pharma giant’s most prized possession: Humira.

Patients who received rheumatology care from nurse practitioners or physician assistants rated their overall experience similarly to those who saw a rheumatologist, according to survey data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

VEXAS syndrome is a recently discovered disease that features fever, orchitis, skin nodules and small- or medium-vessel vasculitis, among other symptoms, according to a presenter at the Biologic Therapies Summit.

Treatment with a fixed interval of either 500 mg or 1,000 mg rituximab for at least 2 years is a “reasonable option” for patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody vasculitis upon achieving remission, according to a presenter here.

Tocilizumab, the one biologic therapy that has FDA approval for giant cell arteritis, has shown ongoing efficacy in keeping patients in remission and off steroids, according to a pair of presenters at the Biologic Therapies Summit.

Although the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases is comparable to the general population, increased systemic inflammation among these patients is linked to symptomatic COVID-19, according to researchers.

Clinicians who treat vasculitides are accustomed to uncertainty. Vasculitis, in its varied forms, shares symptoms with an entire cross-section of unrelated conditions that can prompt frequent misdiagnoses and potentially fatal treatment decisions.

The FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee recently voted 10-8 that the safety and risk-benefit profiles for 30 mg dose of avacopan were sufficient to support its approval for the treatment of adult patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis.