News

Otsuka seeks approval in Japan of Lupkynis for lupus nephritis

Otsuka Pharmaceutical is seeking approval in Japan to manufacture and market Lupkynis (voclosporin) for the treatment of lupus nephritis, a kidney complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The new drug application filed by Otsuka will be reviewed and decided upon by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour,…

CAR T-cell therapy shown to drive long-term remission in SLE patients

A CAR T-cell therapy targeting B-cells, a type of immune cells, was found to clear disease-causing autoantibodies from the bloodstream of eight people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) — without compromising the patients’ ability to respond to vaccines — new trial data show. The experimental therapy also drove the…

Kyverna, Charité partner to study effects of B-cell-targeting therapies

Kyverna Therapeutics has signed a research funding deal with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, in Germany, to study how therapies targeting immune B-cells may improve clinical outcomes of people with whole-body, or systemic, autoimmune diseases such as lupus. The deal also covers studies on CAR T-cell therapies, including Kyverna’s experimental…

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…