Profiling of Potential Postmarket Risk Tracking and Pharmacovigilance Data for Avacopan

Avacopan emerges as a significant therapeutic agent for the condition known as antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis. However, there is a lack of current real-world safety studies with large sample sizes. The objective of this study is to scrutinize avacopan's postcommercialization safety profile, thereby providing an informed foundation for its clinical application.

Using 2 methods, including the Bayesian confidence propagation neural network and reporting odds ratio (ROR), we conducted signal mining on all avacopan adverse event reports in the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System from the third quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2024 to evaluate the safety profile of avacopan.

The US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System database recorded 7141 adverse events related to avacopan, involving 3135 patients. The proportion of female patients who experienced adverse events is higher than that of male patients. We found that 225 patients died, with more deaths among those aged 65 years and above and male patients. This signal mining identified 17 systemic organ classifications, including a total of 136 adverse eventsignals, such as antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody increased (ROR = 357.69; 95% CI, 150.92-847.75; information coefficient = 8.27; lower limit of the CI = 1.60), biopsy kidney (ROR = 106.68; 95% CI, 33.48-339.94; information coefficient = 6.67; lower limit of the CI = 0.47). In addition, we also discovered new adverse events, such as alopecia, sepsis, pulmonary hemorrhage, hypertransaminasemia, deafness, and insomnia.

This study reveals the potential risks of avacopan use and found significant differences in adverse events between genders and age groups. Further prospective studies are needed to validate the current findings, refine risk warnings and monitoring strategies for different populations, and explore strategies to reduce or prevent adverse reactions.