News

COVID-19 immune cell vaccine eases SLE symptoms in girl: Report

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…

Everest to pay up to $132M for rights to lupus nephritis treatment

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…

LFA self-management care program for lupus gets free mobile app

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…

NIDDK awards $3M grant to study using AI to diagnose lupus nephritis

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 safety concerns seen one month after dosing with KYV-101 for lupus

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, Verily team up to identify KYV-101 response biomarkers

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.

Lupus Canada Catalyst Award aims to help predict treatment response

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…

Phase 2 trial of GLPG3667 for SLE now recruiting patients in US

Galapagos officially has launched a Phase 2 clinical trial that will test its oral therapy GLPG3667 — designed to ease disease severity in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) — at a half dozen sites in the U.S. The first participant has been randomized, or assigned to a treatment…

Walk to End Lupus Now fundraiser set for Sept. 9 in St. Louis

To raise money to battle lupus and increase awareness about the chronic autoimmune disorder, Allsup, which provides Social Security disability assistance, is again supporting the Lupus Foundation of America’s (LFA) annual Walk to End Lupus Now in St. Louis. Registration is required for the in-person event, set…

Trial will test AlloNK for SLE patients with lupus nephritis

AlloNK, an off-the-shelf experimental natural killer (NK) cell therapy being developed by Artiva Biotherapeutics, soon will enter clinical testing, in combination with rituximab, for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with active lupus nephritis. This follows the approval of the company’s investigational new drug application by the U.S.