New York, NY, October 16, 2019 — The Lupus Research Alliance is excited to announce that a potential new medicine for lupus—anifrolumab—reduced disease activity versus placebo in a second Phase III study.
Anifrolumab is a therapeutic antibody that blocks type I interferons, a molecule that promotes lupus inflammation.
The LRA was ahead of the curve by funding more than 15 studies that investigated type 1 interferons over the past decade. These studies were pivotal to the eventual development of anifrolumab.
Called TULIP 2, the one-year pivotal trial measured disease activity using a well-established evaluation tool called the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group based Composite Lupus Assessment (BICLA). To meet the primary endpoint defined as a statistically significant and meaningful reduction in disease activity, BICLA requires improvement in organs affected by lupus with no new flares.
“The Lupus Research Alliance has made significant investments in research focused on the role of type I interferons in lupus, and I am personally very excited given my own research in this area,” said Dr. Mary Crow, Co-chair of the Lupus Research Alliance Scientific Advisory Board.
