Vasculitis News and Research

Latest Vasculitis News and Research

AARDA launches campaign on family AQ

In honor of the designation of March as National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month by the U.S. Senate on March 4, 2010, the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) wants to help you learn your family's AQ. AQ is a play on IQ that stands for Autoimmune Quotient. It's about knowing how likely you or a loved one is to develop an autoimmune disease, based on the prevalence of these diseases and your family history. The campaign features AARDA National Spokesperson and Actress Kellie Martin, best known for her memorable roles on "E.R." and "Life Goes On."

22 Mar 2010

Researchers receive grant to study how ILD appears in patients with autoimmune diseases

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati Interstitial Lung Disease Center have received a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to study ways ILD first appears in certain patient groups with autoimmune diseases and how to more efficiently diagnose and treat it.

24 Feb 2010

ChemoCentryx announces the initiation of Phase I clinical trial of CCX168

ChemoCentryx, Inc., today announced the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial of CCX168, an orally-administered small molecule designed to treat autoimmune diseases.

28 Jan 2010

Smokers with systemic lupus erythematosus at greater risk of skin damage and rashes

As if there weren't enough reasons to stop smoking, a team of researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) have just found another. A study led by Dr. Christian A Pineau, Co-Director of the Lupus and Vasculitis clinic at the MUHC, has clearly linked skin damage and rashes to smoking in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Rheumatology.

3 Nov 2009

Interim data from Schering-Plough's narlaprevir Phase IIa study

Schering-Plough Corporation reported that interim results from an ongoing Phase IIa study of narlaprevir (SCH 900518), its investigational, once-daily protease inhibitor, demonstrated potent antiviral activity in treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1.

3 Nov 2009

Schering-Plough receives FDA complete response letter regarding PEGINTRON

Schering-Plough Corp. announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a complete response letter to the company's supplemental Biologics License Application regarding PEGINTRON® (pegylated interferon alfa-2b) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with stage III malignant melanoma after complete lymphadenectomy.

31 Oct 2009

Schering-Plough to present data on boceprevir at the AASLD 2009 Annual Meeting

Schering-Plough announced that data on boceprevir, an investigational hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor, will be reported in an oral presentation at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Annual Meeting in Boston, Oct. 30-Nov. 3.

19 Oct 2009

Rituxan drug effective for treating ANCA-associated vasculitis

Researchers have identified that Rituxan, a drug previously approved for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's B cell lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, can treat severe ANCA-associated vasculitis as effectively as cyclophosphamide, the current standard therapy.

19 Oct 2009

Research to explore diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases

The National Institutes of Health announced today a second phase of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) including funds for 19 research consortia.

7 Oct 2009

Schering-Plough receives FDA recommendation approval for PEGINTRON

Schering-Plough Corp. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended approval by a vote of six to four for PEGINTRON® (pegylated interferon alfa-2b) in the adjuvant treatment of patients with Stage III malignant melanoma.

6 Oct 2009

Safety profiles of JANUVIA and JANUMET drugs established through clinical development program

Merck has thoroughly reviewed the safety data for sitagliptin, and sitagliptin was not associated with an increase in the incidence of pancreatitis in preclinical studies or in clinical trials of up to two years in duration with more than 6,000 patients.

28 Sep 2009

European CHMP recommends Merck's JANUVIA and JANUMET as add-on to insulin

Merck & Co., Inc., which operates in many countries as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), has received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s (EMEA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for JANUVIA® tablets and JANUMET® tablets recommending their use as add-on to insulin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

26 Sep 2009

Polymyositis and dermatomyositis affected patients more prone to cardiovascular diseases

Patients suffering from two serious autoimmune disorders which cause muscular inflammation are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, says a group of Montreal researchers. Dr. Christian A. Pineau and his team at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) have linked muscular inflammation to increased cardiovascular risk for the first time.

2 Sep 2009

Significant drop in prevalence of rheumatoid vasculitis between 2000 and 2001

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health examined records of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system to determine the prevalence of rheumatoid vasculitis (RV) in this population. The study found a downward trend in the number of RA patients who go on to develop RV, with a significant drop of 53% among inpatients and 31% among outpatients between 2000 and 2001.

27 Aug 2009

Study of Rituxan (rituximab) in lupus nephritis misses primary endpoint

Genentech, Inc. and Biogen Idec has announced that a Phase III study of Rituxan (rituximab) plus mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and corticosteroids in patients with lupus nephritis did not meet its primary endpoint of significantly reducing disease activity at 52 weeks.

11 Mar 2009

Men get autoimmune diseases, too!

What do former President George H.W. Bush, Fox Business News anchor Neil Cavuto, comedian and actor Bernie Mac, Poison lead singer and reality television star Bret Michaels and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Bobby Engram have in common?

4 Apr 2008

Mayo Clinic clarifies diagnosis for primary central nervous system vasculitis (PCNSV)

Mayo Clinic has clarified the methods of diagnosis and optimal management of a rare and little-understood blood vessel disease of the brain and spinal cord that often leads to stroke or death.

19 Oct 2007

Platelets help white blood cells fight inflammation

Scientists have shown for the first time that platelets, the cells needed for blood clotting, help white blood cells called neutrophils fight inflammation.

13 Sep 2007

Potential therapeutic target for autoimmune vasculitis

A potential therapeutic target for autoimmune vasculitis has been identified by researchers of the Franz Volhard Clinic for Cardiovascular Diseases (FVK) of the Charity – University Medicine Berlin/HELIOS-Klinikum and the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch.

16 May 2007

Women suffering lupus OK to take oral contraceptives

Major study of women with either inactive or stable systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) – a disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and damages healthy tissues of the skin, joints and internal organs – were able to take oral contraceptives without increased risk of flares, or periods of increased disease activity, that characterize the disease.

22 Dec 2005