First new lupus drug approved in 56 years.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  approved Benlysta (belimumab) to treat patients with active, systemic lupus erythematosus who are receiving standard therapy, including corticosteroids, antimalarials, immunosuppressives, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Prior to Benlysta, FDA last approved drugs to treat lupus, Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) and corticosteroids, in 1955. Aspirin was approved to treat lupus in 1948.

Lupus is a serious, potentially fatal, autoimmune disease that attacks healthy tissues. It disproportionately affects women, and usually develops between ages 15 and 44. The disease affects many parts of the body including the joints, the skin, kidneys, lungs, heart, and the brain. When common lupus symptoms appear (flare) they can present as swelling in the joints or joint pain, light sensitivity, fever, chest pain, hair loss, and fatigue.

Estimates vary on the number of lupus sufferers in the United States ranging from approximately 300,000 to 1.5 million people. People of all races can have the disease; however, African American women have a 3 times higher incidence (number of new cases) than Caucasian women.

Patients treated with Benlysta and standard therapies experienced less disease activity than those who received a placebo and standard of care medicines. Results suggested, but did not definitively establish, that some patients had a reduced likelihood of severe flares, and some reduced their steroid doses.

African American patients and patients of African heritage participating in the two studies did not appear to respond to treatment with Benlysta. The studies lacked sufficient numbers to establish a definite conclusion. To address this concern, the sponsor has agreed to conduct an additional study of people with those backgrounds to further evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Benlysta for this subgroup of lupus patients.

Those receiving Benlysta during clinical studies reported more deaths and serious infections compared with placebo. The drug should not be administered with live vaccines. The manufacturer is required to provide a Medication Guide to inform patients of the risks associated with Benlysta.

The most common side effects in the studies included nausea, diarrhea, and fever (pyrexia). Patients also commonly experienced infusion reactions, so pre-treatment with an antihistamine should be considered.

NIH: Lupus Fact Sheet

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Comments

56 years to find a drug for this terrible condition. Yet it is one you rarely hear of. It does not get the funding that other medical conditions do.

It is good that they have a new drug to treat Lupus but I have two issues with it: They need to make sure this drug is safe. Too many drugs are so dangerous that they cause death. Surely, they have can come up with more natural ways to treat this disease. My second issue is that they didn't make sure this new drug would work for black women in the first place. I mean , if you know beforehand that the people who are the most affected by lupus are black women, wouldn't you design the drug with them in mind? Now, they have to go back to the drawing board to try to make one that works for them. Meanwhile, bw are suffering the most from this disease everyday. It is not right. Editor's comment: You make a valid point.

I was so happy reading this article at first. Something besides plaquenil and more research being done on lupus. But reading the ending,dampened that. African American woman are mostly affected and this study and research still did not address these issues. I am still grateful for anyone who can benefit from new and safe treatment.

Lupus generally can be classified into SLE and DLE and is one of the common autoimmune diseases other than rheumatic arthritis and lichen planus. My question is can benlysta be used in the management of other autoimmune diseases or is it specifically for lupus only?

Thank you very much for this interesting blog. I believe that there should be more support and research for this disease.

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