News

Using glucocorticoids to treat inflammation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was associated with organ damage in patients without active disease, a large study found.  These findings draw attention to the possible harmful effects of glucocorticoids — a type of corticosteroid hormone —…

Culminating more than a year of advocacy by the Lupus Foundation of America and others, President Donald Trump has signed into law provisions for nearly $19 million in new funding for lupus research and education. The funding bills, which included $41.7 billion for the National Institutes of…

Adding Benlysta (belimumab) to standard therapy increased the percentage of people with active lupus nephritis who experienced improved renal function in a Phase 3 trial. The BLISS-LN study (NCT01639339) was designed to evaluate Benlysta’s safety and efficacy in people with active lupus nephritis, a common and…

Physical and emotional abuse during childhood may increase the risk of developing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) later in life, a new study has found. The study, “Association of Childhood Abuse with Incident Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Adulthood in a Longitudinal Cohort of Women,” was published in …

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation to itolizumab as a potential therapy for lupus nephritis, a common and serious complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that can lead to kidney failure. This designation is given to compounds that show considerable potential in treating serious conditions for which…

Fatigue has a major impact on quality of life in people with systemic lupus erythematosus, and measuring it using a patient-reported tool may prove useful in clinical trials, new research shows. The findings were presented at the recent 2019 American College of Rheumatology/Association for Rheumatology Professionals Annual Meeting…

This year’s Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) Breaking Through Gala, billed as the world’s largest single lupus fundraising event, took in $3 million for research into the autoimmune disorder. Some 600 members of the global lupus community turned out for the Nov. 25 New York City affair that celebrates…

Treatment with an investigational antibody therapy known as BIIB059 was well-tolerated and decreased disease activity in people with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) — lupus affecting the skin — with or without systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which affects other organs and systems, top-line results of a Phase 2 study…

Adding the experimental oral therapy voclosporin to standard-of-care treatment is safe and nearly doubles the proportion of complete kidney responses in people with lupus nephritis, according to top-line data from a Phase 3 study. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, the company developing voclosporin, hopes to make the treatment available to…

Adding RC18 (telitacicept) to standard therapy significantly lowered disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in a Phase 2b trial, data show. The treatment was also well-tolerated. Researchers at RemeGen, the company developing RC18, presented the findings, “A Human Recombinant Fusion Protein Targeting B…