Lupus Erythematosus News and Research

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Positive results from etanercept pilot study against dermatomyositis

A multicenter pilot study of etanercept for treatment of dermatomyositis found no major safety concerns and many patients treated with the drug were successfully weaned from steroid therapy.

17 Jun 2011

4SC to present pre-clinical data on vidofludimus in systemic lupus erythematosus at EULAR 2011

4SC AG, a discovery and development company of targeted small molecule drugs for autoimmune and cancer diseases, will present pre-clinical data on vidofludimus - its lead small-molecule drug candidate against autoimmune diseases - in systemic lupus erythematosus at EULAR 2011, Europe's largest scientific conference on rheumatic diseases, in London, UK, from May 25-28, 2011.

27 May 2011

HPV vaccination does not affect rate of disease flares in patients with SLE, study finds

Results of a Chinese study showed that the HPV vaccine did not have significant effects on the number of disease flares or antibody measures in patients with inactive SLE receiving stable doses of medications after administration, and therefore was determined safe to use to prevent HPV in this group of patients.

26 May 2011

Lilly Phase I multiple myeloma study affirms potential of LY2127399-bortezomib combination

Eli Lilly and Company announced Phase I data on LY2127399, a human monoclonal antibody that neutralizes B-cell activating factor (BAFF), for use in combination with bortezomib in patients with previously-treated multiple myeloma.

21 May 2011

African Americans with SLE have higher antibody response to influenza vaccination: Study

New research shows that African Americans with systemic lupus erythematosus had a higher antibody response to influenza vaccination than European American patients.

21 May 2011

EMA CHMP issues positive opinion for marketing approval of BENLYSTA

GlaxoSmithKline and Human Genome Sciences, Inc. announced today that the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has issued a positive opinion, recommending marketing authorisation for BENLYSTA (belimumab) as an add-on therapy in adult patients with active autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus, with a high degree of disease activity, despite standard therapy.

20 May 2011

Study explores link between alexithymia and auto-immune disease

This paper, which explores the link between the inability to express emotions and an auto-immune disease, failed to find any statistical significant associations.

29 Apr 2011

Researchers discover molecular mechanisms behind autoimmunity

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have discovered that human proteins with an affinity for Dermatan Sulfate have the propensity to become autoantigens. In a companion article, the researchers also found that DS physically interacts with dead cells and that the resulting DS-autoantigen complexes drive autoreactive B-1a cell responses and autoantibody production both in-vitro and in mouse models.

26 Apr 2011

LMP1 viral protein needs TRAF6 cellular protein to promote B cell activation signaling pathways: Study

By identifying a surprising association of two intracellular proteins, University of Iowa researchers have laid the groundwork for the development of new therapies to treat B cell lymphomas and autoimmune disease.

20 Apr 2011

Early uMSC transplantation may treat lupus nephritis

Human umbilical cord blood-derived mensenchymal stem cells have been found to offer benefits for treating lupus nephritis when transplanted into mouse models of systemic lupus erythematosus.

12 Apr 2011

ALR announces medical research grant awards to cure lupus

The Alliance for Lupus Research – the world's largest private funder of lupus research – today announced its most recent medical research grant awards, totaling $3.6 million, which support the ALR mission of finding better treatments and ultimately preventing and curing systemic lupus erythematosus, a debilitating autoimmune disease.

7 Apr 2011

Lupus nephritis ESRD study finds increase in incidence rates among children, African Americans

New research documenting changes in the incidence and outcomes of end-stage renal disease in the U.S. between 1995 and 2006, found a significant increase in incidence rates among patients 5 to 39 years of age and in African Americans.

28 Mar 2011

Scientific advances at Scripps Research lay foundation for new lupus drug Benlysta

Scientific advances at The Scripps Research Institute were key to laying the foundation for the new drug Benlysta® (belimumab), approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Benlysta®, which treats the most common type of lupus, is the first in a new class of pharmaceuticals that prevents the body from attacking its own critical tissues.

11 Mar 2011

ALR commits funding for new study to identify lupus susceptibility genes in multiple ethnicities

The Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) – the world's largest private funder of lupus research – today announced funding of an important new study to identify lupus susceptibility genes in multiple ethnicities including African Americans, who are three times more likely than Caucasians to have the disease.

10 Mar 2011

FDA approves BENLYSTA for active, autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved BENLYSTA® (belimumab) for the treatment of adult patients with active, autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who are receiving standard therapy.

10 Mar 2011

Human Genome Sciences receives FDA approval for Benlysta to treat lupus

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Benlysta to treat patients with active, autoantibody-positive lupus who are receiving standard therapy, including corticosteroids, antimalarials, immunosuppressives, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

9 Mar 2011

The Lancet journal publishes BENLYSTA BLISS-52 study against SLE

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC today announced publication of the BLISS-52 study of BENLYSTA in autoantibody-positive patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus in The Lancet.

7 Feb 2011

Immunomedics reports net loss of $3.4M in total revenues for second quarter 2011

Immunomedics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases, today reported financial results for the second quarter ended December 31, 2010.

5 Feb 2011

Researchers identify regulatory defect that drives lupus

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Cambridge, Mass., in collaboration with Jackson Laboratory scientists, have identified a regulatory defect that drives lupus.

4 Feb 2011

Interferon-alpha associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis in patients with SLE

Researchers in China have demonstrated interferon-alpha (IFN-α) is associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). For the first time, IFN-α priming was shown to promote lipid uptake and foam cell formation—a crucial step in plaque build-up. This activation of the IFN signaling pathway may be linked to the premature atherosclerosis risk in SLE.

27 Jan 2011