An independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) established by Biotest has recommended the company begin part 2 of its Phase 2a clinical study assessing BT-063, a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The DSMB recommendation follows positive interim results. Study 990 (NCT02554019) is a Phase 2…
The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), an independent non-profit biomedical research institute, will enter a new research collaboration with Eisai, an oncology and neurology-oriented pharmaceutical, to study the genetics of lupus. In lupus patients, the immune system becomes unbalanced and attacks the body’s own tissues. This might lead…
Selexis recently signed an agreement that grants ImmuNext access to the company’s cell lines in order to advance an antibody being developed to treat systemic lupus erythematosus and other autoimmune conditions. Geneva-based Selexis focuses on the development of specific mammalian cells, called CHO-K1, which are adapted to growth in suspension. The cell lines which…
The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) announced the launch of its latest crowdfunding campaign to raise money for lupus research: The “Cut it Out” 14-day challenge to end lupus. A diagnosis of lupus can be life-altering. Many patients are seriously affected by their disrupted lifestyle following diagnosis. The name…
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals announced that it will present positive data from its Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of voclosporin for the treatment of lupus nephritis, showing that the study had met and confirmed its primary endpoint of complete remission in a statistically significant number of treated patients. The data…
The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) recently honored Richard A. Rosenbaum, the executive chairman of the law firm Greenberg Traurig, with the Hope Award, based on the firm’s “generosity and long-standing support of lupus research and education,” according to a press release. The award was presented at the foundation’s Evening of Hope Gala in…
The Lupus Research Alliance awarded a Target Identification in Lupus grant to a team of investigators led by Kerstin Nündel, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, to fund their research projects on the disease. The $574,000 three-year grant will be used to study how a type of…
The Lupus Research Alliance recently launched a new initiative called the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN) to accelerate the identification and development of new therapies to treat lupus. LuCIN was originally created as a continuation of a project that the Lupus Research Alliance had initiated for drug repurposing…
Measuring the level of certain pro-inflammatory cytokines in the blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may help to identify those patients with kidney inflammation (nephritis), and so that treatments can begin that might halt the progression to kidney failure. The study, “Serum Cytokines Th1, Th2, and…
Metabolic profiles may be used to identify patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, and, more importantly, to distinguish between lupus patients with and without kidney disease. The study, “NMR based serum metabolomics reveals a distinctive signature in patients with Lupus Nephritis,” published in the journal Scientific Reports,…