The excessive inflammatory response that is characteristic of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has now been shown by scientists at University College London to be caused by altered signaling between different kinds of immune cells — leading to a lack of production of regulatory B-cells to control immune responses. The team studied three different immune cells…
Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc., announced it will soon begin a Phase 2 clinical trial to test the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and biologic effects of its drug candidate, Resunab, in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Resunab is a first-in-class, synthetic oral endocannabinoid-mimetic drug that preferentially binds to the CB2 receptor expressed on activated…
A nutritious diet likely helps protects against lupus flare-ups, but contrary to what other studies have indicated, Vitamin D does not seem to make a difference, according to Ph.D. student Cecilia Lourdudoss of Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet. She recently spoke to The Lupus Foundation of America about her study of diet and glucosteroid…
Israel-based XTL Biopharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biotech company that focuses on the development of new drugs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, has announced that its lead drug candidate, hCDR1, has been granted a patent by the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office. The patent, “Synthetic Human Peptides and Pharmaceutical Compositions Comprising…
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals recently announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to voclosporin, a next-generation calcineurin inhibitor under development to treat patients with lupus nephritis (LN) and other autoimmune diseases. LN is a kidney inflammation caused by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in which patients may develop proteinuria,…
Researchers from Singapore’s leading science institute, A*STAR, found that a group of small noncoding RNAs, called mir-17-92, regulate B-cell function and antibodies in mice. The results may help pave the way for new lupus treatments and other diseases linked to B-cell dysfunction. Antibody-producing B-cells are a crucial part of our defense against pathogens. In autoimmune…
Immunovia AB recently announced it has entered into a collaboration with a large multinational life science company to jointly conduct trials to expand the application of IMMray, a technology platform based on antibody microarray analysis, to include autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The company was not otherwise…
Researchers at Denmark’s Aarhus Research Center for Innate Immunology have discovered that the influenza virus has the ability to hide itself from the immune system due to a protein that masks its entrance into cells. This mechanism, besides providing knowledge about viral immune evasion and aiding in the development of new strategies…
A collaborative research project conducted between The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California; Yale University  in New Haven, Connecticut; and National Biotechnology Center in Madrid, Spain, has identified a small molecule called miR-148a as a key regulator of immune cells, where higher levels appear to cause autoimmune diseases. The paper, “…
The Alliance for Lupus Research and The Lupus Research Institute, in conjunction with the Congressional Lupus Caucus, are inviting lawmakers to a lunchtime briefing on the “New Action Plan for Lupus Research” recently released by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal…