Lupus is a rather elusive disease that today has no cure. However, a molecule, which had not proven itself in a first study, proved to be significant in the second. The results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Lupus affects 30,000 people in France, 90% of whom are women. While this mysterious disease cannot yet be cured, a potential drug has just shown encouraging results. The study is published in the journal New England Journal of Medicine.
A disease that can attack all organs
Systemic lupus erythematosus, its real name, is a chronic autoimmune disease. In other words, the immune system attacks itself. The disease can then affect the skin, kidneys, joints, lungs or even the nervous system. The symptoms can therefore be very varied, which can pose difficulties in making the diagnosis. However, 10% of patients have a risk of dying in the next ten years, “which, if you are diagnosed in your early twenties, is a terrible result”, laments Professor Eric Morand, lead author of the study. .
Second possible treatment in 60 years
To date, only one drug has been approved to cure lupus for… Sixty years. This is Benlysta, admitted in 2012. In question, “the heterogeneity of the disease, the inadequate size or duration of the trial, (an) insufficient dose (…), the handling of usual drugs and the choice of the primary endpoint”, according to a study dating from 2016. Thus Anifrolumab, the one that gives hope to researchers today, had not initially proven itself. In the first trial, not all patients took the highest dose of the drug (300 mg).
Nearly 1 in 2 patients saw their condition improve
In this second phase 3 study, the results are not the same. First, it was conducted in 119 hospitals in 16 countries where 362 people were divided into two groups. In the first, they took Anifromulab, up to 300 mg, and in the second, they took a placebo. A total of 47.8% of patients saw their condition improve with the drug, compared to 31.5% with the placebo. However, some disease criteria have not improved, such as the number of flare-ups per year or joint pain.
Adverse effects
Anifromulab is administered intravenously every month. It is an antibody modified in order to cling to interferons 1. This molecule is overproduced by 60 to 80% of lupus patients. Thus, by blocking all interferon 1 receptors on all cells, the drug blocks the immune reaction responsible for the symptoms of the disease. However, adverse effects have been observed. Indeed, Anifromulab has been associated with an increase in upper respiratory tract infections and shingles. The researchers hope that vaccination can help reduce these risks.
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