Treatment with dapirolizumab pegol is better than a placebo at controlling disease activity in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), according to new results from a Phase 3 clinical trial. UCB and Biogen, the therapy’s developers, shared full results from that trial — which they called “statistically…

A year of treatment with upadacitinib led to significant disease activity reductions for people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), according to data from the Phase 2 SLEek trial. It was similarly effective when used with the experimental treatment elsubrutinib, in a combination called ABBV-599, the researchers found. These and…

Viral infections with cytomegalovirus, known as CMV, are highly prevalent in children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and are linked to high disease activity and poor outcomes, a study in China reports. Given that anti-CMV treatment can reduce disease activity and flares, the virus’ early identification and treatment…

A type of anti-DNA autoantibodies that also block an enzyme called DNase1L3 may cause more harm to people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) than those that only bind to genetic material, a study has found. These results, the researchers say, shed new light on the origin of SLE, the…

Blood levels of an immune system protein called sBCMA were found elevated in untreated children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared with treated patients and healthy children in China. That’s according to a recent study, which also found that sBCMA levels declined after treatment. Higher levels of the…

A middle dose of rezpegaldesleukin, an experimental medicine being developed by Nektar Therapeutics, led to clinically meaningful gains in measures of disease activity in people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). That’s according to top-line data from ISLAND (NCT04433585), a Phase 2 clinical study that evaluated how safe…

A test of galectin-3-binding protein (G3BP) levels in the urine is an easy way to distinguish lupus nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys caused by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), from other forms of lupus where the kidneys are not affected, a study suggested. Researchers also observed that protein levels…

Biogen’s experimental therapy litifilimab, also called BIIB059, significantly reduced skin disease activity in adults with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), according to data from part B of the Phase 2 LILAC trial. CLE is a type of lupus that’s also known as skin lupus. As its name suggests, skin…

Treatment with Benlysta (belimumab) induces meaningful and long-lasting reductions in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity, helping a significant proportion of patients achieve durable remission or a status of low disease activity, a study in a real-world Italian population shows. Patients diagnosed in the prior two years, with…

More stringent thresholds in the Cutaneous Lupus Activity and Severity Index (CLASI), a common tool to assess disease progression and treatment response in cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), can better identify patients with clinical improvements, a study reports. Its findings also suggest that people who develop CLE early in…