Research Partners

Lupus Industry Council (LIC)

The Lupus Research Alliance Lupus Industry Council (LIC) includes pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies working together in the pre-competitive space to address common impediments to drug development in lupus and accelerate the pace of bringing new lupus therapies to the market. The LIC convenes quarterly to identify and discuss barriers in drug development, as well as hosting working groups for collaborative projects that leverage the strengths and resources of industry, the LRA, Lupus Therapeutics, and the academic research community. When applicable, LIC Working Groups may serve as incubators for projects that can be developed into proposals for submission to the Lupus Accelerating Breakthroughs Consortium (Lupus ABC).

New members are welcome; contact Kari Fischer, Ph.D. (kfischer@lupusresearch.org). Lupus ABC members automatically receive membership to the LIC.

The following companies are currently members of the LIC:

• AbbVie
• AbelZeta
• Adicet Bio
• Amgen
• Artiva Biotherapeutics
• AstraZeneca
• Autolus
• Biogen
• Bristol Myers Squibb
• Cabaletta Bio
• Caribou Bio
• CRISPR Therapeutics
• Eli Lilly and Company
• EMD Serono
• Fate Therapeutics
• Genentech
• Gilead Sciences, Inc.
• GSK
• iCell Gene Therapeutics
• Janssen
• Kyowa Kirin International
• Merck
• Nkarta
• Novartis
• PPD
• Sanofi
• Synthekine
• UCB
• Zenas Biopharma

Current Working Groups

Lupus Nephritis Urine Protein Biomarkers

Current biomarkers for assessing lupus nephritis cannot reliably distinguish between active inflammation and lasting damage, while kidney biopsy—the gold standard for evaluating intranenal pathology—is invasive and unsuitable for routine monitoring. Noninvasive biomarkers that accurately reflect kidney pathology could enable earlier diagnosis, real-time assessment of treatment response, and potential prediction of long-term outcome.​ This working group was established in October 2023 to identify urine protein biomarkers for lupus nephritis by 1) selecting the most useful biomarkers for the intended context(s) of use; 2) developing a suitable assay using the appropriate platform and vendor; and 3) lay the groundwork for the appropriate regulatory submissions.

Flare Prevention in Clinical Studies

Current SLE clinical trials enroll only patients with moderate to severe disease activity at the time of entry. This exclusion of patients with milder disease or in remission significantly limits patient eligibility and recruitment. Moreover, the current trial design with existing outcome measures with fixed endpoints are not well-suited to assess the impact of investigational therapies on the relapsing-remitting nature of lupus. Established in March 2025, this working group seeks to explore the use of flare prevention as a potential endpoint to measure efficacy in clinical trials. It will begin by assessing the feasibility of analyzing existing placebo data to understand how flares are currently measured across studies and then engage with the community to explore how flare prevention trials could be effectively designed.

Former Working Groups

Thus far, the LIC has completed the following projects. Read more about the accomplishments of the LIC.

• Drivers of Response and Non-response for SRI-4 and BICLA in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Clinical Trials
• Dynamic Imaging of Variation in Lupus Nephritis (DIVINE)
• LIC-OMERACT Partnership to Advance SLE Outcome Measures
• Determinants of ANA Expression in Patients with Lupus

Lupus Research Alliance-Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) Partnership

The Lupus Research Alliance-Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) partnership was enabled by a generous $3 million gift from BMS. This collaboration supports 10 innovative projects through a dedicated grant mechanism, the Accelerator Award. These projects focus on understanding the underlying causes of systemic and cutaneous lupus, exploring human lupus heterogeneity and identifying novel biomarkers. The research is conducted in close collaboration with a Lupus Research Alliance-BMS Joint Steering Committee comprised of BMS scientists and Lupus Research Alliance-appointed external experts.

Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI)

In 2012, the Lupus Research Alliance became Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation’s (CTI’s) first foundation partner. Since then, the initiative has supported nearly a dozen studies advancing pre-clinical and early stage clinical drug candidates for the treatment of SLE.

Bloomberg Philanthropies

Bloomberg Philanthropies has been a key partner to the Lupus Research Alliance for more than 10 years and generously has supported the mission of the Lupus Research Alliance. Initially focused on fundamental research and innovation, the partnership brought a broad group of leading scientists into lupus research and yielded significant findings and new targets for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

The most recent iteration of the partnership launched the Lupus Research Alliance’s largest and most collaborative grant mechanism, the Global Team Science Award.

Breakthrough T1D—Lupus Research Alliance—National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) Partnership on Common Mechanisms of Autoimmunity

Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), the Lupus Research Alliance, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society have joined forces to identify common mechanisms of autoimmunity. These three leading autoimmune disease organizations are once again jointly funding research projects looking at common underlying disease mechanisms.

Visit the Common Mechanisms of Autoimmunity website to learn more about the initiative.

Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Accelerating Medicines Partnership Program Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases (AMP AIM)

The Lupus Research Alliance is a partner in AMP AIM, which brings together nearly two dozen organizations from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to accelerate the identification and validation of new therapeutic targets by reconstructing shared immune response pathways through spatial and multi-omics technologies. The project is managed by the FNIH and builds on the success of AMP RA/SLE in which LRA was also a partner.

Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)/Lupus

The Lupus Research Alliance is a partner in the Accelerating Medicines Partnership Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)/Lupus, which brings together the National Institutes of Health (NIH), industry and nonprofit organizations to identify new therapeutic pathways and targets in RA and lupus nephritis (LN). The project is generating groundbreaking results with potential to transform clinical care for LN.

Lupus Research Alliance Lupus Brain Bank: Lupus Research Alliance—Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (HBTRC) collaboration

The Lupus Research Alliance has partnered with the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (HBTRC), one of six National Institutes of Health (NIH) NeuroBioBanks to establish the Lupus Research Alliance Lupus Brain Bank.

The generous gift of lupus patient donors and their families enables critical research on the neuropsychiatric manifestations of lupus.