Author Archives: Lindsey Shapiro

Possible urinary biomarkers of lupus nephritis identified in study

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…

Lupus Therapeutics to support development of NK cell therapy

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…

COVID-19 immune cell vaccine eases SLE symptoms in girl: Report

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…

Phase 2b clinical trial seeks SLE patients with lupus nephritis

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…

Research Alliance awards team $3M to study pediatric lupus nephritis

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…

Study IDs risk factors for severe lupus flares in patients in Iran

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…

Lupkynis helps protect kidneys with lupus nephritis and high proteinuria

Lupkynis (voclosporin) combined with background lupus treatments better preserved kidney function among a subgroup of lupus nephritis patients with particularly high protein levels in the urine (proteinuria) compared with background therapy alone. Notably, these benefits were observed regardless of patients’ baseline demographic or clinical characteristics, and they were…