ANCA-associated vasculitis treatment has depended on prolonged high-dose glucocorticoids, whose toxicity accumulates over a patient’s lifetime. Tavneos (avacopan) was developed to reduce that dependence.
Avacopan is an oral C5a receptor antagonist that blocks the complement signal priming and recruiting neutrophils to damage blood vessels. It is approved as an adjunct to standard therapy, including glucocorticoids, for adults with severe active ANCA-associated vasculitis in granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis.
Tavneos faces no generic competition and holds orphan designation. Its central commercial question has always been whether the steroid-sparing benefit is adopted as replacement or merely additive therapy, which shapes both prescribing patterns and its value in vasculitis trial design.
