What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to compare the efficacy of rituximab against conventional therapy for inducing remission in EGPA patients.

February 28, 2026Kompass Autoimmun0 citations

EPGA-Therapie: Die Rolle von Rituximab – Paradigmenwechsel oder Status quo?

Key Points

The aim is to compare the efficacy of rituximab against conventional therapy for inducing remission in EGPA patients.
Multicenter, randomized, controlled, double-blind, phase 3 trial design.
Participants included newly diagnosed or relapsing EGPA patients with active disease.
Intervention involved glucocorticoids plus rituximab versus conventional therapy.
Primary end point measured was remission defined by BVAS and prednisone dosage at 180 days.
63.5% of patients in the rituximab group achieved remission compared to 60.4% in the control group.
No statistically significant difference in mean duration of remission between groups.
Rates of relapse and major relapse were similar across both treatment groups.
Average daily glucocorticoid doses and adverse event rates were comparable.

Abstract

Background: Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is an eosinophilic antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. Rituximab has emerged as the standard of care in other types of ANCA-associated vasculitis, but controlled studies on its use in EGPA are yet lacking. Objective: To compare rituximab with conventional strategy for the induction of remission in patients with EGPA. Design: Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, controlled, double-blind, superiority trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02807103). Setting: France. Participants: Patients with a diagnosis of EGPA, newly diagnosed or relapsing disease at the time of screening, with active disease defined as a Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) of 3 or greater. Intervention: Glucocorticoids plus rituximab (1 g 2 weeks apart) compared with the conventional strategy (glucocorticoids alone or in combination with cyclophosphamide in severe forms) for induction of remission. Measurements: The primary end point was remission defined as a BVAS, version 3, of 0 and a prednisone dose of 7.5 mg/d or less at day 180. Secondary end points included duration of remission during the study, average daily glucocorticoid dose, and safety. Results: A total of 105 participants were randomly assigned. Thirty-three (63.5%) patients in the rituximab group achieved the primary end point compared with 32 (60.4%) in the control group (relative risk, 1.05 95% CI, 0.78 to 1.42; P = 0.75). Results were similar at day 360. The mean duration of remission was 48.5 ± 6.51 weeks in the rituximab group and 49.1 ± 7.42 weeks in the conventional strategy group (P = 0.41). All relapse and major relapse rates were similar between the 2 groups. There was no statistically significant difference in the average daily glucocorticoid dose and no statistically significant differences in the rates of adverse events between the treatment groups. Limitation: Design not appropriate to answer the question of equivalence between rituximab and cyclophosphamide in patients with severe EGPA.

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