New Lupus Drugs Showing Positive Results in Clinical Trials

July 23, 2009

Earlier this week, the pharmaceutical company Human Genome Sciences (HGS) and their partner GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) released promising results of their clinical trial of the lupus drug Benlysta, which met the goals of a late-stage study in treating lupus. With continued research success, this study could someday lead to the release of one of the first new treatments for lupus in decades.

Benlysta inhibits the activity of B-lymphocyte stimulator, or BLyS. BLyS is a naturally occurring protein that is required for the development of B-lymphocyte cells into mature plasma B cells. Plasma B-cells are a type of white blood cell (called a b-lymphocyte) that normally produce antibodies. It is well known that in autoimmune diseases such as lupus, B cells inappropriately generate autoantibodies, antibodies that attack the body’s own tissues, causing the inflammation that is a characteristic of the disease. People with lupus also often have elevated BLyS levels.

The Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) has strongly supported B-cell inhibition and depletion research, going back to some of our very first grants funded, now nearly ten years ago. ALR-funded research, beginning in 2000 with Robert Carter, M.D., from the University of Alabama, Robert Eisenberg, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania, and William Stohl, M.D. Ph.D., from the University of Southern California are some of the first scientists the ALR funded in this area. This is the kind of important early work that eventually when it moves from the lab to being applied to compounds in humans, can result in the kind of progress Human Genome Sciences and GSK made this week. We are proud to share that the ALR has funded a total of nearly $5-million in B-cell research in the past ten years.

"We are delighted on behalf of people with lupus everywhere for the progress Human Genome Sciences and GlaxoSmithKline announced this week. It is an important next step," said Barbara Boyts, President of the Alliance for Lupus Research. Boyts went on to say, "This news is also a great testimony to the positive results of our investment to date of nearly $60 million in lupus research."

About the ALR: The Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) is the world’s largest charitable funder of lupus research. 100% of all donations to the ALR support innovative medical research focused on preventing, treating, and curing Systemic Lupus Erythamatosus (SLE) or lupus because the ALR’s Board of Directors funds all administrative and fundraising expenses.

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