The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation to IMPT-514, a CAR T-cell therapy being developed by Immpact Bio for people with active, treatment-resistant lupus nephritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Lupus nephritis is a serious complication of lupus characterized by kidney inflammation.
In both the U.S. and Europe, clinicians want to limit treatment with glucocorticoids — steroid hormones whose long-term use for autoimmune diseases is tied to serious side effects — among people with moderate to severe lupus. To that end, healthcare professionals are increasingly prescribing biological therapies like Benlysta…
A $1.6 million gift from business executive William J. Wolfe and his family will establish the Wolfe Lupus Research Fund at the University of California (UC) San Diego to advance lupus research and patient care. Wolfe, a longtime lupus community supporter, is a board member of the 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…
In a new deal worth up to $132.5 million, Everest Medicines will have the exclusive right to develop and commercialize zetomipzomib — an experimental treatment for lupus nephritis from Kezar Life Science — in China, South Korea, and other countries in Southeast Asia. Lupus nephritis, or inflammation in the kidneys, is a…
The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) has launched a free mobile application, or app, for its virtual Strategies to Embrace Living with Lupus Fearlessly self-care program — dubbed SELF — for adults in the U.S. with the chronic autoimmune disorder. The SELF program, available online, offers tips…
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has awarded $3 million to a research team that’s using artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose lupus nephritis, one of the most severe complications of lupus that’s marked by kidney inflammation and damage. The award will support the research…
No signs of neurotoxicity were seen for 28 days after the first patient in a Phase 1 clinical trial was dosed with KYV-101, Kyverna Therapeutics’ investigational cell therapy for lupus nephritis, a lupus complication marked by kidney damage. A standard 4-week post-infusion observation period in such clinical trials is…
Kyverna Therapeutics will use Verily Life Sciences’ high-resolution Immune Profiler to identify biomarkers to measure responses to KYV-101, Kyverna’s experimental cell therapy for lupus-related kidney disease. KYV-101 is being evaluated in an open-label trial, which is recruiting nine to 12 patients at clinical sites across the U.S.
A Canadian researcher will use a newly granted Lupus Canada Catalyst Award — with one year of funding totaling $40,000 CAD (around $29,300) — for a study focused on better understanding the role of an inflammation marker in predicting treatment responses in people with lupus nephritis. Lupus nephritis is one…