A dual-target CAR T-cell therapy from iCell Gene Therapeutics safely led to medication-free disease remission for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in a small Phase 1 study. For patients with lupus nephritis (LN), a common and serious SLE manifestation involving the kidneys, renal function also was improved. Based…
Scientists have identified a number of proteins in the urine with high diagnostic accuracy for identifying kidney involvement in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Such biomarkers may enable the earlier identification of lupus nephritis, a serious manifestation of SLE that can cause kidney failure, thus allowing for faster interventions…
A team of scientists in Austria discovered a small molecule — now called feeblin in a nod to a Nobel laureate— that prevents the activation of immune signaling pathways implicated in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This molecule was found to block the interaction of two key proteins, known as…
Lupus Therapeutics will partner with Nkarta to advance the development of NKX019, Nkarta’s investigational natural killer (NK) cell therapy, for people with treatment-resistant lupus nephritis, a serious complication of lupus that features kidney damage and dysfunction. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared the launch…
Treatment with an intensified dosing regimen of Saphnelo (anifrolumab) led to greater improvements in kidney function compared with standard dosing or a placebo for people with active lupus nephritis, according to two-year data from the TULIP-LN clinical trial. Lupus nephritis is a common, yet severe manifestation of lupus…
A personalized vaccine kit designed to prevent COVID-19 infection eased systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) manifestations in an adolescent girl in Indonesia whose symptoms had not been well-controlled with immunosuppressive therapies, a study showed. Researchers believe that while the therapy was not specifically targeted for SLE, it helped the girl…
PALIZADE, a Phase 2b clinical trial of Kezar Life Sciences’ investigational therapy zetomipzomib, is still enrolling systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with active lupus nephritis, a severe lupus complication that causes kidney damage. The launch of the placebo-controlled PALIZADE trial (NCT05781750) earlier this year followed the completion…
The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) has awarded a $3-million grant to a multidisciplinary research group working to identify drivers of lupus nephritis, a serious complication of lupus characterized by kidney damage, in children with the autoimmune disease. Elena Hsieh, MD, an associate professor at the University of Colorado…
Younger age, greater disease activity, and a history of kidney involvement are significant predictors of severe disease flares among people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a study in Iran has found. The findings suggest that patients with these risk factors “may need closer monitoring and follow-up” to better manage…
The Lupus Research Alliance has awarded its 2023 Lupus Insight Prize to a researcher for her pioneering discovery that mutations in the TLR7 gene are a cause of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Carola Vinuesa, MD, PhD, assistant research director at The Francis Crick Institute in London, was given…