Lupus News and Research

Latest Lupus News and Research

Myrexis presents key preclinical findings of MPI-0485520 at ACR/ARHP meeting

Myrexis, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel treatments for cancer, today presented key preclinical findings of the Company's novel oral anti-interferon, MPI-0485520, at the 74th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals, in Atlanta, Georgia.

10 Nov 2010

Preclinical data from Idera's autoimmune and inflammatory disease program presented at 74th ACR

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced two presentations of preclinical data from its autoimmune and inflammatory disease program at the 74th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in Atlanta, Georgia. One presentation is entitled "IMO-3100, a Toll-like Receptor (TLR) Antagonist, Suppresses TLR7- and TLR9-mediated Immune Responses in Non-human Primates" (#856).

10 Nov 2010

Epratuzumab reduces SLE disease activity in phase IIB EMBLEM study

UCB and U.S. based partner Immunomedics Inc. announced that results from the phase IIB study, EMBLEM, showed that certain doses of epratuzumab were associated with a meaningful and statistically significant reduction in disease activity in adult patients with moderate to severe active SLE.

10 Nov 2010

Special Surgery investigators to present future of clinical care at ACR annual meeting

Hospital for Special Surgery physicians who focus on lupus, scleroderma and related conditions are traveling from New York City to Atlanta this week to share their recent findings at the 74th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).

10 Nov 2010

Immunologix partners with Genscript to develop human antibody therapeutics

Immunologix, Inc, a Charleston, SC biotechnology company and a leader in fully human therapeutic antibodies for a variety of diseases and GenScript, a contract research organization (CRO) based in Piscataway, NJ and the industry leader in bio-reagent services, assay development & screening, lead optimization, and antibody drug development, announced today that the companies have formed a strategic partnership to offer a complete platform for producing human antibody therapeutics.

10 Nov 2010

Study finds lack of medication adherence among people with RA and lupus

People with rheumatic diseases don't take their medication on a regular basis, and this leads to poor outcomes in their disease treatment, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

9 Nov 2010

Patients with germinal center-like structures face greater risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Biopsying the glands that produce saliva to test for germinal center-like formation when someone is diagnosed with primary Sjögren's Syndrome can predict later development of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

9 Nov 2010

SIMPONI injection improves inflammation, structural damage in RA patients

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analyses from two Phase 3 clinical trials showed that once every four week subcutaneous injections of SIMPONI (golimumab) 50 mg plus methotrexate resulted in statistically significant improvements in markers of inflammation and structural damage in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared with placebo plus methotrexate.

9 Nov 2010

Thirteen myths about arthritis and rheumatic disease

A diagnosis of arthritis or another rheumatic disease can cause someone to feel anxious and even a little overwhelmed. Being a knowledgeable and empowered patient can help alleviate some of those feelings, and being able to navigate through the many misconceptions about arthritis and rheumatic diseases is vitally important.

8 Nov 2010

Hydroxychloroquine may reduce cardiac neonatal lupus in subsequent pregnancies: Research

Women with anti-SSA/Ro antibodies and a previous child who has heart block a condition where the electrical signal that makes the heart beat is damaged may potentially decrease their risk of delivering another child with life threatening heart disease by taking hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

People with SLE more likely to develop hematologic malignancies

People with systemic lupus erythematosus are 1.15 times as likely to develop cancer as the general population and more than 2.5 times as likely to develop hematologic malignancies, such as lymphoma and leukemia, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

Statin drugs do not benefit pediatric lupus patients

Lupus puts children at higher risk for coronary artery disease when they become adults, but routinely using statins doesn't provide enough benefit to warrant their regular use in children and adolescents, according to the largest study of pediatric lupus patients to date.

8 Nov 2010

PIKAMAB awarded QTDP program grants to advance development of theragnostic products

PIKAMAB, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in stratified medicine, announced today that it has been awarded two grants by the U.S. Government under the QTDP program to advance the development and commercialization of two theragnostic products: ADCC Therasight and Lupus Therasight. PIKAMAB applied for two grants, both of which qualified and received the maximum grant amounts totaling approximately $488,959.

4 Nov 2010

Questcor announces launch of H.P. Acthar Gel for infantile spasms

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the commercial launch is now underway for H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection) as monotherapy for the treatment of Infantile Spasms (IS) in infants and children under the age of two years. This new Acthar indication was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 15, 2010.

3 Nov 2010

APS summit focuses on Antiphospholipid Syndrome research

Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) is a condition that may be responsible for up to one-third of strokes in people under age 50, up to one-fifth of all cases of blood clots in large veins, and one-quarter of recurrent miscarriages. Nonetheless, relatively few randomized clinical trials have been conducted involving people with APS, and those completed have included small numbers of participants.

3 Nov 2010

Eye transformer impacts JAK/STAT-signaling pathway response with microbial challenge

Scientists are keeping their eye on a new discovery published in the November 2011 print issue of the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) that explains what causes some genes to go out of control. Scientists have identified a "cellular switch," called eye transformer, that controls the flow of information from chemical signals outside of the cell to genes in the cell nucleus.

2 Nov 2010

LRI's innovative discovery to predict lupus receives license for clinical laboratory development

A discovery made by Lupus Research Institute-funded investigator Emily Baechler Gillespie, PhD, at the University of Minnesota has been licensed to a major clinical laboratory for development and could soon result in a test that quickly and easily enables patients and their physicians to determine when a lupus flare is imminent.

29 Oct 2010

Research on sheep population could help explain variation in vaccine protection

Strong immunity may play a key role in determining long life, but may do so at the expense of reduced fertility, a Princeton University study has concluded.

29 Oct 2010

Celgene third quarter non-GAAP total revenue increases 31% to $908 million

Celgene Corporation announced non-GAAP net income of $349.9 million, or non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.75 for the quarter ended September 30, 2010.

28 Oct 2010

New nationwide initiative to conduct research on human immune system

A new nationwide research initiative has been launched to define changes in the human immune system's response to infection and vaccination using human rather than animal models, which could lead to better vaccines and other treatments. Baylor Research Institute (BRI), along with five other U.S.-based Human Immune Phenotyping Centers, will receive a total of $100 million over five years to conduct the research.

28 Oct 2010