Autoimmunity News

Monday, August 18, 2008 MedImmune, Medarex Report Initiation of Phase IIa Clinical Trial of Fully Human Anti-Interferonα Monoclonal Antibody in Lupus Patients
MedImmune has initiated enrollment in a phase IIa trial with a human monoclonal antibody (MEDI-545) targeting interferonα in adult patients with moderate-to-severe active lupus...

Friday, July 25, 2008 New High-Resolution Device Aids Finger MRI in Scleroderma
High-resolution magnetic resonance angiography (micro-MRA) can readily measure vascular disease of fingers in systemic sclerosis…

Thursday, July 24, 2008 Lupus No Longer Seen As Complete Contraindication to Oral Contraceptive Use
Oral contraceptives, long considered a risk for women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), are now often considered for women with inactive or stable SLE…

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Compugen Reports Positive Preclinical Results for Therapeutic Peptide Candidate for Immune Related Diseases
The gp96 protein triggers both the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system and is thought to play a key role in inflammatory responses, making it an important target for therapeutic intervention in the treatment of immune-related disorders...

Thursday, July 10, 2008 Cancer Drug Velcade^® Looks Promising for Lupus Nephritis
Bortezomib, which prolonged survival and prevented nephritis in mice with lupus, looks set to move to human clinical trials...

Wednesday, July 09, 2008 Lasting Leukemia Risk for AS Patients Treated With Now Banned 224Radium (SpondylAT^®)
AS patients who were treated with repeated intravenous injections of 224Radium (SpondylAT^®) are at increased risk for developing leukemia…

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Dermatologists Say Lupus Patients Need More Devotion to Sunscreen
Physicians need to step up their efforts to convince lupus patients to protect themselves from the sun…

Thursday, June 26, 2008 Otsuka, UCB to Codevelop and Copromote Cimzia^® in Japan for Crohn's Disease
UCB and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals have agreed to copromote UCB's anti-TNFα drug Cimzia^® for the treatment of Crohn's Disease in Japan, the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world...

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Treatment Adherence in Patients with RA and SLE
Many RA and SLE patients report problems with treatment adherence; race, education, and treatment side effects are the most influential factors on adherence…

Monday, June 16, 2008 Promising Epratuzumab Corticosteroid-Sparing Data Leads to Re-Start of Phase III Studies in Lupus
Phase III studies of epratuzumab in systemic lupus erythematosus have resumed after analysis of early data showed steroid-sparing effects...