News

2 young scientists receive Lupus Foundation grants for research

This year’s winners of the Lupus Foundation of America‘s Gary S. Gilkeson Career Development Award — designed to support early career scientists working on lupus research — will focus their work on areas key to patients with the autoimmune disease: pregnancy and personalized medicine. Both winners are from…

Lupus Therapeutics, AbbVie team up for Phase 3 trial of upadacitinib

Lupus Therapeutics is partnering with AbbVie for the Phase 3 clinical program of upadacitinib for people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). “The partnership with AbbVie will support the accelerated evaluation of upadacitinib as a potential treatment for individuals living with SLE,” Stacie Bell, PhD, Lupus Therapeutics’…

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…

Clinical testing of cell-based NKX019 in lupus nephritis to begin

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Nkarta’s request to launch a clinical trial in the U.S. to test its experimental therapy NKX019 in people with lupus nephritis, a lupus complication marked by kidney inflammation and damage. The multi-center, dose-escalation study will assess the safety and clinical…

CAR T-cell therapy IMPT-514 gets FDA fast track designation for lupus

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.

Greater use of Benlysta, Saphnelo seen in US, EU to treat lupus

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…

UC San Diego gifted $1.6M to enhance lupus research, care

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…