The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) and clinical affiliate Lupus Therapeutics (LT) are proud sponsors and participants of this week’s 16th International Congress on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (LUPUS 2025). The global conference convenes leading experts in rheumatology, immunology and autoimmune research to discuss the latest advancements in lupus. This year, the meeting, being held May 21-24 in Toronto, focuses on the potential of personalized approaches to lupus diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, based on individual genetics, biomarkers, disease activity, and response patterns.

LRA and LT are honored to have played a part in many of the critical advances covered at LUPUS 2025, with a number of presentations involving LRA-funded research and LT-supported clinical studies. In addition, the LRA will host a 2-part scientific session and LRA and LT will present posters on their efforts to advance lupus research in the realm of scientific understanding, precision medicine, clinical trials and clinical care.

Clinical Research Supported by Lupus Therapeutics and LuCIN

Lupus Therapeutics oversees the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN), a network of 60+ premier leading medical research institutions in North America that collaborates on 25-30% of lupus clinical trials. LuCIN and LT enhance the quality of lupus clinical trials through clinical expertise, advisory services, patient engagement, and partnership/collaboration with biopharmaceutical companies and research partners.

Following are Lupus Therapeutics/LuCIN-supported programs and collaborations of note that are being presented at LUPUS 2025:

ORAL ABSTRACT PRESENTATIONS (Abstract and page numbers from this link are listed for each.)

Thursday, May 22

CONCURRENT SESSION 01: FINDINGS FROM LUPUS CLINICAL TRIALS

1:40-2:40 PM, Frontenac Ballroom

• O007 / #176, Page 2, 1:40-1:50 PM, Topic: AS24 – SLE-Treatment: Efficacy and Safety of Elsubrutinib and Upadacitinib Combination and Upadacitinib Monotherapy for the Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Results Through 104 Weeks

• O009 / #367, Page 6, 1:50-2:00 PM, Topic: AS24 – SLE-Treatment: Improvements Observed in Skin and Joint Manifestations of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus With Dapirolizumab Pegol Treatment: Results from a Phase 3 Trial

• O010 / #827, Page 9, 2:10-2:20 PM, Topic: AS07 – Cutaneous Lupus: Late-Breaking Abstract – Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Phase 2 Study of Enpatoran, a Small Molecule Toll-Like Receptor 7/8 Inhibitor, in Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus: Results From Cohort A

• O012 / #232, Page 16, 2:20-2:30 PM, Topic: AS15 – Lupus Nephritis-Clinical: Achievement of Proteinuria Less than 0.4 g/g in the Phase 3 Aurora 1 Study of Voclosporin in Lupus Nephritis

CONCURRENT SESSION 04: ADVANCING LUPUS THERAPIES AND INSIGHTS

1:40-2:40 PM, Queens Quay

• O025 / #750, Page 61, 1:50-2:00 PM, Topic: AS15 – Lupus Nephritis-Clinical: Late-Breaking Abstract – Results from the Regency Trial Assessing Efficacy and Safety of Obinutuzumab in Active Lupus Nephritis

POSTER VIEWING PRESENTATIONS (Abstract and page numbers from this link are listed for each.)

Thursday, May 22 – Saturday, May 24

Exhibition Room

• PV073 / #286, Page 168, Poster Topic: AS09 – Emerging Approaches in SLE Management: Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in Healthy Volunteers of VENT-03, a Novel cGAS Inhibitor for the Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

• PV119 / #87, Page 276, Poster Topic: AS15 – Lupus Nephritis-Clinical: A Phase 1, Multicenter, Open-Label Study of CB-010, a Next-Generation CRISPR-Edited Allogeneic Anti-CD19 CAR-T Cell Therapy, in Patients With Refractory Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Gallop)

• PV182 / #43, Page 454, Poster Topic: AS20 – Precision Medicine: Modular Gene Expression Changes in the SLEek Phase 2 Study of Upadacitinib and ABBV-599 in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

LRA 2-Part Scientific Session

LRA will host a 2-part scientific session moderated by LRA Scientific Advisory Board Chair Andrew Chan, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President of Research, Biology at Genentech, Inc. The scientific session will feature presentations by 6 LRA grantees:

Friday, May 23

3:10-5:30 PM, Pier 2&3

• William Robinson, MD, PhD, Stanford University, California: Dissecting the Genetics and Virus-Host Interactions of EBV-Related Autoimmunity in SLE
• Erika Moore, PhD, Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland: Biomaterial Models of Health Disparity in Lupus: Characterization of Ancestral Differences in Monocyte-Mediated Vascular Inflammation
• Zahi Touma, MD, PhD, University of Toronto: Cognitive Impairment Modeling in SLE
• Alexandra-Chloé Villani, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School: Single-Cell Dissection of Common Immune Networks Driving Autoimmune Diseases
• Simone Caielli, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York: Molecular Fingerprinting of Lupus in Children
• Andrea M. Knight, MD, MSCE, Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto: Cognitive Function in Childhood-Onset Lupus

Research Conducted by LRA, Lupus Therapeutics and LuCIN

LRA and LT will share posters summarizing results of organizational research and plans.

POSTER VIEWING PRESENTATIONS (Abstract and page numbers from this link are listed for each.)

Thursday, May 22

Break Times, Exhibition Room

• PV085 / #710, Page 198, Poster Topic: AS11 – Epidemiology and Public Health: LT will present Defining Lupus Trial Recruitment Barriers and Challenges and Identifying Collaborative Solutions Through the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN). The poster summarizes results of a 2024 survey of LuCIN investigators, study coordinators and other clinical site staff.

Friday, May 23-Saturday, May 24 until 1:00 PM

Break Times, Exhibition Room

• PV140 / #234, Page 331, Poster Topic: AS17 – Miscellaneous: The LRA will present a poster on their 5-year research strategic plan for accelerating precision medicine, Lupus Research Alliance 2024-2028 Research Strategic Plan: Accelerating Precision Medicine for People Living With Lupus.
• PV153 / #118, Page 367, Poster Topic: AS17 – Miscellaneous: The LRA will present Lupus Nexus: Developing a Lupus Registry, Biorepository and Data Exchange Platform to Accelerate Precision Medicine In Lupus, a revolutionary platform created by LRA to fuel the acceleration of precision medicines.

LUPUS 2025 represents the evolving landscape of lupus diagnosis, prognosis and treatment, including: advanced biomarkers and genetic profiling; predictive analytics for disease progression forecasting; the emergence of engineered cell therapy; and patient-centered care. These developments bode well for a future where patients are promptly diagnosed, clinically and molecularly profiled, and offered safer and more effective personalized treatments and possible cures.