Lupus Treatment Shows Promising Results
An experimental treatment against lupus showed promising results in a second clinical trial conducted by the pharmaceutical GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Human Genome Sciences. The trust said drug manufacturers to market release by mid next year.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease whereby the immune system attacks the body's own tissue and organs, including kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, blood and skin. The consequences of this disease, which affects more than 5 million people worldwide, lupus can cause arthritis, kidney failure, chest pain and rash.
In this study, patients were treated with 10 milligrams of belimumab, which is marketed under the name “Benlysta” during 53 weeks, after which it was found that 43.2 percent of patients had an improvement in their symptoms without, therefore, worsen some of the organs affected by the disease. In patients who received placebo, improvement was detected in 33.8 percent of cases.
For Professor at the University of Chicago and one of the authors of the research, Tammy Utset, clinical results were “spectacular” and encouraged to continue studying the effectiveness of this drug and improve its security because in 26.8 percent of patients serious side effects were detected.
For 50 years there is no approved specific treatment for this disease, as said the president of the Lupus Research Institute, Margaret Dowd, who highlighted the turn these results may lead to research in this field.
In fact, this second clinical trial manufacturing companies “Benlysta” being carried out has been requested by the U.S. Agency of Medicines (FDA, in its acronym in English) to evaluate a possible adoption.
