British Columbia-based Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has announced positive results from the fourth and final safety review of the company’s Phase 2b AURA LV clinical trial, which is evaluating the efficacy of its lead drug voclosporin as a treatment for active lupus nephritis. The review was conducted by the Data and Safety…
Researchers found that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at a specific genomic location, the FCGR2B-FCRLA locus, is involved in the response of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis patients to cyclophosphamide treatment. The research, “Response to Intravenous Cyclophosphamide Treatment for Lupus Nephritis Associated with Polymorphisms in the FCGR2B-FCRLA Locus,” was published in The…
Using next-generation DNA sequencing technology, researchers have targeted 16 specific regions of the human genome associated with increased susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), identifying more than 1,000 DNA variations that regulate the expression of genes associated with immune responses and SLE pathology. The variations are linked to disease susceptibility. The study,…
Recent research highlights the understudied role of cytokines in various subtypes of cutaneous lupus erythematosus, primarily that cytokines interleukin-1 (IL-1-beta), interleukin-17 (IL-17) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) are involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. These results were recently presented at the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology…
Xencor announced the beginning of two Phase 2 clinical trials testing its drug candidate, XmAb5871, to treat systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD), a rare fibro-inflammatory autoimmune disorder. In both trials, a first patient has already received an initial testing dose. XmAb5871 is a monoclonal antibody that targets both CD19 and the FcγRIIb…
Israel-based XTL Biopharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biotech company that focuses on the development of new drugs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, has announced that its lead drug candidate, hCDR1, has been granted a patent by the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office. The patent, “Synthetic Human Peptides and Pharmaceutical Compositions Comprising…
Researchers at Denmark’s Aarhus Research Center for Innate Immunology have discovered that the influenza virus has the ability to hide itself from the immune system due to a protein that masks its entrance into cells. This mechanism, besides providing knowledge about viral immune evasion and aiding in the development of new strategies…
An international team of researchers has identified 10 new genes associated with the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that might constitute potential therapeutic targets for the disease. The research paper, “High-density genotyping of immune-related loci identifies new SLE risk variants in individuals with Asian ancestry,” was published in Nature Genetics.
Dr. Jill Kramer at the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine will lead a research study into the role of a certain type of antibody in Sjögren’s syndrome and other autoimmune diseases, including lupus. The study, focused on determining whether IgM is indeed harmless or pathogenic, is funded by a National…
Atherosclerosis is highly prevalent among Danish patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) without any history of cardiovascular disease (CVD), researchers at Odense University Hospital reported, further noting that the evaluation of more than one vascular territory was necessary to diagnose the disease in these patients. Their research paper, titled “Coronary, Carotid, and Lower-extremity…