Ventus Therapeutics plans to develop a new treatment candidate for lupus and other inflammatory diseases marked by the activation of the type 1 interferon immune system pathway, the company recently announced. Called VENT-03, the investigational treatment will target cGAS, a protein whose activation has been implicated in…
The first patient has been enrolled in RECAST DLE, a Phase 2 study evaluating daxdilimab, a potentially first-in-class therapy for moderate-to-severe discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), a form of lupus that affects the skin. Horizon Therapeutics, the therapy’s developer, expects to enroll about 100 DLE patients, ages 18–75 whose…
A small molecule called K-7174 was found to ease neuropsychiatric symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a recent study in mice, and even helped to improve cognitive function. Researchers found that treatment with the molecule may protect against neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE) by preserving the selective blood-brain barrier (BBB),…
Treatment with cenerimod showed promising trends toward reducing disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), especially in people with more severe disease, according to data from a Phase 2b clinical trial. The therapy’s developer, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals, announced the launch of a Phase 3 trial program to further explore cenerimod’s…
Black patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) are more likely to have a family history of CLE and/or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) than those of other ethnicities, according to a recent study. The prevalence of CLE and/or SLE was 64% in Black patients compared with 45% in non-Black patients. “Providers…
A study in a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) showed that treatment with methylprednisolone significantly improves survival rates in animals fed a regular diet — but not among those given a diet high in fats, which instead lessened the beneficial effects of the corticosteroid. In…
The Medical Research Foundation has awarded its sixth Emerging Leaders Prize to three lupus researchers in the U.K. The scientists received a total of £220,000 (around $269,000), funded by a gift in the will of Erina Herrick, a scientist with the disease who devoted her research to it.
Lupkynis (voclosporin) has been approved in Great Britain as a treatment for adults with active lupus nephritis by the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, the therapy’s developer, announced. The MHRA’s approval came just a few months after the European Commission approved Lupkynis…
Women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) whose disease went into remission right before becoming pregnant show better outcomes in the post-partum period, including a lower flare rate, according to a two-year follow up study. These findings highlight how “planned pregnancy counseling is fundamental when managing SLE patients,” the researchers wrote.
Belimumab continues to show a favorable risk-benefit profile in adults with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), according to safety data from six clinical trials. Researchers noted the findings “add to the evidence base supporting a positive benefit-risk profile of belimumab in the treatment of adult patients with SLE.” Data from…