ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT04871191SATELITEUpdated Apr 3, 2026

Study of Salvage Therapy to Treat Patients With Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis

A Phase 3 interventional study of Rituximab and Tocilizumab in Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis and Anti-neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-associated Vasculitis, sponsored by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris. Recruiting at 1 site in France. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-03.

Sponsored by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Jun 2025; still recruiting 1 year 5 months later.
Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
42
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-12

Among 11 studies in Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris — 3 open to participants now, 3 under way, 1 of them phase 3. Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis · Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris.

Planned enrollment
8th of 10
42 · median 89
Started
2025
with 1 other
Phase 3
4 of 11
1 open now
Registered
9th of 11
by date

Among the 11 studies in Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, this one is the 8th largest by planned enrollment of the 10 interventional ones, is one of 2 that started in 2025, is one of 4 in phase 3, and was the 9th registered.

By phase

11 studies; the count open now beside each. This study's row is marked.

Phase 3this study4 · 1 open
No phase2 · 0 open
Phase 22 · 1 open
Phase 42 · 1 open
Observational1 · 0 open

By the year they started

First in 2004; this study’s year is marked. 2 started in 2025.

Size and results

Median enrollment 89 across the 10 interventional studies, 93 across the 1 observational. Of the 8 that completed or were terminated, 0 (0%) have results posted.

Watch this landscapeDownload CSVWith an account: a weekly mail of what changed among 11 studies in Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, or all of them as a file.
02

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to identify the most promising therapeutic strategy for patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis and inadequate response to standard of care therapy. It will evaluate the efficacy to induce remission of three different salvage strategies including: a combination of rituximab with addition of a conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (either methotrexate, azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil, but preferentially methotrexate); tocilizumab; or tofacitinib.

Read the detailed description

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is an anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitides (AAV).

Combination of glucocorticoids and either cyclophosphamide or rituximab is the standard of care for remission-induction of new-onset organ-threatening or life-threatening GPA. Few patients fail to respond to both cyclophosphamide and rituximab, but it is not uncommon for patients to have persistent disease activity resulting in inability to taper glucocorticoids, which is also considered refractory disease. The current recommendations for patients with GPA refractory to remission-induction therapy are to switch from cyclophosphamide to rituximab or from rituximab to cyclophosphamide. However, there are no recommendations for the management of patients with inadequate response after both treatments. Treatment with a biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) or a combination of rituximab and a cDMARD are potential treatments options but have not been properly evaluated in such cases. Among biologic DMARD that have been evaluated in AAV, some have shown promising results, including tocilizumab and tofacitinib.

Identifying the most promising therapeutic strategy for patients with GPA and inadequate response to standard of care therapy may improve management of GPA.

03

Conditions studied

  • Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis
  • Anti-neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-associated Vasculitis

Keywords

  • Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis
  • Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody
  • Salvage therapy
  • Standard of care therapy
  • Inadequate response
04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Newly diagnosed or relapsing granulomatosis with polyangiitis according to American College of Rheumatology criteria, EMA classification algorithm and/or the 2012 revised Chapel Hill Consensus Conference definition.
  • Aged 18 years or older
  • Active clinical manifestations attributable to GPA
  • An inadequate response to previous standard of care therapy including either :

    1. A combination of plus cyclophosphamide
    2. AND /OR a combination of glucocorticoids plus rituximab
  • An inadequate response to treatment defined as follows:

    1. A progressive disease unresponsive to previous standard of care therapy after 12 weeks of treatment
    2. Or a lack of response, defined as \< 50% reduction in the disease activity score, after 12 weeks of treatment
    3. Or a persistent active disease attributable to either a vasculitic or a granulomatous manifestation of GPA that requires the maintenance of corticosteroids ≥ 7.5 mg/day of equivalent prednisone after ≥ 12 weeks of treatment.
  • A stable dose of oral glucocorticoids of ≥ 7.5 mg/day of equivalent prednisone within the 4 weeks before enrollment. Pulses of methylprednisolone (1 to 3 pulses of 7.5 to 15 mg/kg each; ≤ 1000 mg) are allowed if necessary, according to severity before starting the experimental treatment.
  • A stable dose of conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (cDMARD) within 4 weeks before enrollment if the patient is currently treated with a cDMARD
  • Patients must have the ability to understand the requirements of the study, provide written prior to participation in the study (including consent for the use and disclosure of research-related health information) and comply with the study protocol procedures (including required study visits)
  • Patients must have an affiliation with a mode of social security (profit or being entitled)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • An allergy or to monoclonal antibodies or either of the study drugs (rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab) or to their
  • A previous treatment with a combination of rituximab plus a cDMARD, with tofacitinib, or with tocilizumab
  • A to a combination of rituximab plus a cDMARD, to tofacitinib, or to tocilizumab (including an ongoing infection; history of recent cancer \<5 years before enrollment, except for cured non-melanoma skin cancer); pregnancy; and breastfeeding.
  • Patients with severe vasculitis manifestations that requires plasma exchange therapy including severe renal failure with a creatinine level ≥350 µmol/L or severe alveolar haemorrhage
  • Patients with vasculitis in remission
  • Patients with symptoms attributable to chronic and non-active GPA
  • Patients with severe cardiac failure defined as class IV in
  • Patients with acute infections or chronic active infections (including , or )
  • Patients with active cancer or recent cancer (\<5 years), except basocellular carcinoma and prostatic cancer of low activity controlled by hormonal treatment
  • Pregnant women and lactation. All women with are required to have a negative serum pregnancy test before treatment and must agree to maintain highly effective from the date of consent through the end of the study, and for women who are taking tocilizumab or tofacitinib through 3 months after the last treatment administration, for women who are taking rituximab in combination with methotrexate through 6 months after the last treatment administration, for women who are taking rituximab in combination with mycofenolate mofetil or with azathioprine through 3 months after the last treatment administration
  • Patients with other uncontrolled diseases, including drug or alcohol abuse, severe psychiatric diseases, that could interfere with participation in the trial according to the protocol
  • Patients included in other therapeutic study within the previous 3 months
  • Patients suspected not to be observant to the proposed treatments
  • Laboratory parameter exclusions

    1. aspartate or (AST/SGOT or ALT/SGPT) > 5 times
    2. count \<100.000/mm3
    3. White blood cell count \<2000/mm3
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(15)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

Excipients

The other ingredients in a medicine besides the active drug, such as fillers, colours or preservatives.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

NYHA class (heart failure)

The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.

I
No limits: ordinary activity causes no undue tiredness or breathlessness.
II
Slight limits: comfortable at rest, ordinary activity causes symptoms.
III
Marked limits: comfortable at rest, less than ordinary activity causes symptoms.
IV
Symptoms even at rest; any activity makes them worse.

Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

Hepatitis C tests

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.

After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
42 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Rituximab + cDMARD

    Rituximab will be administered at 375 mg/m²/week for four consecutive weeks. Maintenance rituximab at a fixed dose of 500 mg will be administered at week 24 and at week 52. The choice of the cDMARD will be left to the treating clinician and will include either methotrexate, azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil, but the choice will be preferably methotrexate. Methotrexate will be administered orally or subcutaneously at 0.3 mg/kg/week, azathioprine orally at 2-3 mg/kg/d and mycophenolate mofetil orally at 2-3 g/d.

    Drug: Rituximab

  • Experimental
    Tocilizumab

    Tocilizumab will be administered subcutaneously every week at a fixed dose of 162 mg per week.

    Drug: Tocilizumab

  • Experimental
    Tofacitinib

    Tofacitinib will be administered orally at 5 mg twice daily. Tofacitinib will start at week 0. Treatment will continue until week 52.

    Drug: Tofacitinib

Interventions

  • 375 mg/m²/week for four consecutive weeks (Week 0, 1, 2 and 3) Maintenance rituximab at a fixed dose of 500 mg will be administered at week 24 and at week 52.

    Also known as: Mabthera

  • Subcutaneous injection of 162 mg per week

    Also known as: RoActemra

  • \- Tofacitinib, administered orally at a dose of 5 mg twice a day. Tofacitinib will start at week 0. Treatment will be continued until week 52

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Proportion of patients with a response or a remission

    defined according to the EULAR recommendations. Remission is defined as the absence of disease activity attributable to active disease qualified by the need for ongoing stable maintenance immunosuppressive therapy. The term ''active disease'' is not restricted to vasculitis only, but also includes other inflammatory features like granulomatous inflammation. Response is defined as a 50% reduction of disease activity score and absence of new manifestations.

    Time frame: week 12

Secondary outcomes

  1. Proportion of patients with a response or a remission at week 26 and 52.

    according to the EULAR recommendations

    Time frame: week 26 and 52

  2. Physician's and patient's global assessment of disease activity

    The difference between the physician's and patient's global assessment of disease activity between baseline and week 12 and between baseline and week 52 using a scale ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more activity.

    Time frame: week 12 and 52

  3. Patient-reported outcomes

    The patient-reported outcomes (PRO) including the ANCA-associated vasculitis patient-reported outcomes (AAV-PRO) questionnaire, a 29-item profile measure comprising six domains, with higher scores meaning more active disease, at week 12, 24, and 52 after randomization, and during the long-term follow-up.

    Time frame: week 12, 24 and 52

  4. Adverse events

    The number of adverse events, expressed as adverse events according to the CTCAE toxicity grading system per patient-year at week 26 and 52 for the following adverse events combined: death (all causes), grade 2 or higher leukopenia or thrombocytopenia, grade 3 or higher infections, hemorrhagic cystitis, malignancies, venous thromboembolic events, hospitalization resulting either from the disease or from a complication due to the study treatment, infusion reactions (within 24 hours of infusion) that result in the cessation of further infusions

    Time frame: week 26 and 52

  5. Corticosteroids use

    The area under the curve for corticosteroids at week 26 and 52

    Time frame: week 26 and 52

  6. Vasculitis Damage Index

    The Vasculitis Damage Index (VDI, scoring from 0 to 58, higher scores indicating more damage) at week 26 and 52

    Time frame: week 26 and 52

  7. Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ)

    ranging from 0 to 3, with higher scores indicating worse functional impairment

    Time frame: week 26 and 52

  8. Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health questionnaire

    scores range from 0 to 100 for each component, with lower scores indicating greater impairment of quality of life

    Time frame: week 26 and 52

  9. ANCA titers

    Evolution of ANCA titers in the treatment groups

    Time frame: week 26 and 52

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Yates M, Watts RA, Bajema IM, Cid MC, Crestani B, Hauser T, Hellmich B, Holle JU, Laudien M, Little MA, Luqmani RA, Mahr A, Merkel PA, Mills J, Mooney J, Segelmark M, Tesar V, Westman K, Vaglio A, Yalcindag N, Jayne DR, Mukhtyar C. EULAR/ERA-EDTA recommendations for the management of ANCA-associated vasculitis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016 Sep;75(9):1583-94. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2016-209133. Epub 2016 Jun 23. PubMed 27338776 ↗
  • Stone JH, Merkel PA, Spiera R, Seo P, Langford CA, Hoffman GS, Kallenberg CG, St Clair EW, Turkiewicz A, Tchao NK, Webber L, Ding L, Sejismundo LP, Mieras K, Weitzenkamp D, Ikle D, Seyfert-Margolis V, Mueller M, Brunetta P, Allen NB, Fervenza FC, Geetha D, Keogh KA, Kissin EY, Monach PA, Peikert T, Stegeman C, Ytterberg SR, Specks U; RAVE-ITN Research Group. Rituximab versus cyclophosphamide for ANCA-associated vasculitis. N Engl J Med. 2010 Jul 15;363(3):221-32. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0909905. PubMed 20647199 ↗
  • Holle JU, Dubrau C, Herlyn K, Heller M, Ambrosch P, Noelle B, Reinhold-Keller E, Gross WL. Rituximab for refractory granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's granulomatosis): comparison of efficacy in granulomatous versus vasculitic manifestations. Ann Rheum Dis. 2012 Mar;71(3):327-33. doi: 10.1136/ard.2011.153601. Epub 2011 Oct 21. PubMed 22021864 ↗
  • Hellmich B, Flossmann O, Gross WL, Bacon P, Cohen-Tervaert JW, Guillevin L, Jayne D, Mahr A, Merkel PA, Raspe H, Scott DG, Witter J, Yazici H, Luqmani RA. EULAR recommendations for conducting clinical studies and/or clinical trials in systemic vasculitis: focus on anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody-associated vasculitis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2007 May;66(5):605-17. doi: 10.1136/ard.2006.062711. Epub 2006 Dec 14. PubMed 17170053 ↗
  • Sakai R, Kondo T, Kurasawa T, Nishi E, Okuyama A, Chino K, Shibata A, Okada Y, Takei H, Nagasawa H, Amano K. Current clinical evidence of tocilizumab for the treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitis: a prospective case series for microscopic polyangiitis in a combination with corticosteroids and literature review. Clin Rheumatol. 2017 Oct;36(10):2383-2392. doi: 10.1007/s10067-017-3752-0. Epub 2017 Jul 21. PubMed 28733791 ↗
  • Berti A, Cavalli G, Campochiaro C, Guglielmi B, Baldissera E, Cappio S, Sabbadini MG, Doglioni C, Dagna L. Interleukin-6 in ANCA-associated vasculitis: Rationale for successful treatment with tocilizumab. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2015 Aug;45(1):48-54. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2015.02.002. Epub 2015 Feb 20. PubMed 25841802 ↗
  • Berti A, Warner R, Johnson K, Cornec D, Schroeder DR, Kabat BF, Langford CA, Kallenberg CGM, Seo P, Spiera RF, St Clair EW, Fervenza FC, Stone JH, Monach PA, Specks U, Merkel PA; RAVE-ITN Research Group. The association of serum interleukin-6 levels with clinical outcomes in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis. J Autoimmun. 2019 Dec;105:102302. doi: 10.1016/j.jaut.2019.07.001. Epub 2019 Jul 15. PubMed 31320177 ↗
  • Langford CA, Monach PA, Specks U, Seo P, Cuthbertson D, McAlear CA, Ytterberg SR, Hoffman GS, Krischer JP, Merkel PA; Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium. An open-label trial of abatacept (CTLA4-IG) in non-severe relapsing granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's). Ann Rheum Dis. 2014 Jul;73(7):1376-9. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-204164. Epub 2013 Dec 9. PubMed 24323392 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 3, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04871191
Collaborators
URC-CIC Paris Descartes Necker Cochin
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 4, 2021
Start date
Jun 6, 2025
Primary completion
Oct 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Mar 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 3, 2026

Study contacts

Jonathan London, MD
Contact
jlondon@hopital-dcss.org
+33 1 44 64 16 02
Alice CAMARA
Contact
alice.camara@aphp.fr
01 58 41 12 11 ext. +33
Benjamin Terrier, MD, PhD
study director · AP-HP - Service médecine interne

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Tocilizumab · Tofacitinib

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