Results of two analyses from a Phase 2 study of Stelara® (ustekinumab) in lupus showed the drug’s effectiveness over one year. Both highlight the benefit of ustekinumab on disease activity and the rate of severe flares. Ustekinumab reduced the rate of severe flares four times as much as placebo by week 24. The rate of […] READ MORE
June 13, 2019 A study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology found that rituximab was helpful as a maintenance therapy for tough-to-treat lupus patients. Maintenance treatment refers to one designed to help a main treatment work. Rituximab is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for two types of cancer. It is sold by the […] READ MORE
MADRID, Spain. June 13, 2019 – Results of the first clinical trial sponsored by the Lupus Research Alliance and conducted through its Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN) were presented today at the European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) 2019. Entitled VAlidation in LUpus of an Electronic Patient Reported Outcomes Tool (VALUE), the study showed that a […] READ MORE
June 13, 2019 New results from a clinical study with healthy volunteers found the investigational compound NKTR-358 safe and well-tolerated, providing support for testing it as a treatment for autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Researchers have known that impaired production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and dysfunctioning regulatory T cells called Tregs are key to breaking down […] READ MORE
Normally helpful immune system cells become harmful in patients with lupus. With a Novel Research Grant from the LRA, a team led by Dr. Frances Lund of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Dr. Ignacio Sanz of Emory University in Atlanta and has discovered one possible reason why. The immune cells known as B […] READ MORE
NEW YORK, NY. June 11, 2019. The Lupus Research Alliance is pleased to share positive topline results from a Phase 2 clinical study of a potential new treatment for proliferative lupus nephritis, the most severe form of kidney damage caused by lupus. Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, reported that at one year their […] READ MORE
June is National Men’s Health Month, when the Lupus Research Alliance works to raise awareness of lupus as a health issue among men to help early diagnosis and treatment. If a man has symptoms like extreme fatigue, skin rashes, joint pain and unexplained fevers – symptoms that can indicate lupus – he should talk to […] READ MORE
Patients who may have lupus typically undergo an “ANA” test to detect anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs). Lupus Research Alliance Distinguished Innovator Award recipient Dr. Shu Man Fu of the University of Virginia and colleagues found that people who don’t have lupus also produce ANAs. This suggests that patients can not be diagnosed with lupus just because […] READ MORE
NEW YORK, NY – May 29. Researchers partly funded by the Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) have found possible new targets for drugs to treat lupus after snapping the first close-up of a molecule that promotes inflammation. The molecule that Target Identification in Lupus (TIL) grant recipient Dr. Roger Greenberg at University of Pennsylvania and Dr. […] READ MORE
May 22, 2019 Lupus is heterogeneous, meaning that symptoms are many and vary widely from patient to patient — one person may develop a rash, while another may have high blood pressure, joint pain, and anemia. About two thirds of adults with lupus have above-normal levels of immune system molecules called type I interferons that […] READ MORE
May 22, 2019 Data presented by several Lupus Research Alliance-funded scientists at the recent American Association of Immunologists Annual Meeting suggests many avenues for new lupus treatments. Some scientists presented data posing new targets for drug development, while others have discovered cells that suppress the immune response and could be harnessed as treatments. Reining in […] READ MORE
May 21, 2019 The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee today passed the Defense Appropriations bill, which allocates our full request for $10 million — double the current budget — for the Lupus Research Program in the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program for Fiscal Year 2020. It is your hard work […] READ MORE
