Publications
Find coverage of the latest original articles on Lupus, focusing on those with data on therapeutic interventions and those that have clinical impact.
September 2022
Trial of Anti-BDCA2 Antibody Litifilimab for Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus
N Engl J Med. 2022;387(4):321–331 doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2118024
Phase II study, in patients with active cutaneous lupus erythematosus, shows that litifilimab improved scores on a measure of skin disease activity, over 16 weeks, compared to placebo.
Effect and safety profile of belimumab and tacrolimus combination therapy in thirty‑three patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
Clin Rheumatol. 2022. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1007/s10067-022-06325-6
A single-centre analysis of patients with SLE administered tacrolimus and belimumab shows this combination therapy to be well-tolerated, with a good efficacy profile and glucocorticoid-reducing effect.
July 2022
Phase 3, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled study evaluating the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
van Vollenhoven RF, et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022. Epub ahead of print. doi:10.1136/ard-2022-222858.
Phase 3 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in patients with active SLE, despite receiving standard-of-care, does not achieve primary and key secondary endpoints.
June 2022
Filgotinib or lanraplenib in moderate to severe cutaneous lupus erythematosus: a phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022;61(6):2413–2423 doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab685
Proof-of-concept study for the safety and efficacy of filgotinib (FIL) and lanraplenib (LANRA) in cutaneous lupus (CLE) fails to meet primary endpoint, but select subgroups displayed a numerically greater treatment response to FIL relative to placebo.
Indirect treatment comparison of anifrolumab efficacy versus belimumab in adults with systemic lupus erythematosus
J Comp Eff Res. 2022;11(10):765–777 doi: 10.2217/cer-2022-0040
Population-adjusted comparative study provides insights for decision makers and clinicians about the comparative efficacy of anifrolumab and belimumab in patients with moderate-to-severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who are receiving standard therapy.
In the absence of head-to-head comparisons, Bruce, et al. assessed the comparative efficacy of the two biological therapies currently approved in the EU and USA for the treatment of moderate-to-severe SLE (anifrolumab 300 mg and belimumab 10 mg/kg).
After adjusting for important cross-trial differences, their results showed that anifrolumab was associated with significantly greater treatment benefits than belimumab.
May 2022
Anifrolumab efficacy and safety by type I interferon gene signature and clinical subgroups in patients with SLE: post hoc analysis of pooled data from two phase III trials
Ann Rheum Dis. 2022; 0:1–11. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221425
IFN-I signalling plays a key role in SLE pathogenesis, and anifrolumab has demonstrated inhibitory effects on IFN-I signalling in patients with SLE. Vital, et al. characterised efficacy and safety of anifrolumab in patients with moderate-to-severe SLE based on interferon gene signature, demographic and clinical subgroups using data pooled from the Phase III TULIP-1 and -2 trials.
Efficacy and Safety of Obinutuzumab in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients with Secondary Non-response to Rituximab
Rheumatology 2022;00:1–5 DOI.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keac150
Arnold, et al. present the first case series reporting the efficacy and safety of obinutuzumab in patients with treatment refractory SLE. The results indicate that, for this group of patients with limited treatment approaches, obinutuzumab could be a potential option.
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March 2022
Phase II randomised trial of type I interferon inhibitor anifrolumab in patients with active lupus nephritis
Ann Rheum Dis. 2022;81(4):496–506 doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221478
Despite not meeting the primary endpoint, this Phase II trial of anifrolumab in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN) demonstrates that anifrolumab IR is associated with numerical improvements over placebo across endpoints – including complete renal response – in patients with active LN.
A secondary analysis of the Belimumab International Study in Lupus Nephritis trial examined effects of belimumab on kidney outcomes and preservation of kidney function in patients with lupus nephritis
Kidney Int. 2022;101(2):403-413 doi: 10.1016/j.kint.2021.08.027
Post-hoc analysis data suggests that the addition of belimumab to standard therapy may be effective in preserving long-term kidney function in patients with lupus nephritis (LN).
Efficacy of anifrolumab across organ domains in patients with moderate-to-severe systemic lupus erythematosus: a post-hoc analysis of pooled data from the TULIP-1 and TULIP-2 trials
Lancet Rheumatol. Published online February 3, 2022
Across two pivotal phase 3 trials (TULIP-1 and TULIP-2), anifrolumab treatment improved systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity across multiple organ domains, compared with placebo.