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• Posted February 19, 2025

Drug Can Stave Off Organ Damage From Lupus

Lupus can do irreversible harm to a person’s organs, damaging the lungs, kidneys, heart, liver and other vital organs through inflammation.

But a newer lupus drug appears to protect patients from much of this organ damage, a new study suggests.

Anifrolumab (brand name Saphnelo) reduced the risk of long-term organ damage progression by about 60% in patients with moderately to severely active lupus, researchers reported in a new study published this month in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

“Anifrolumab plus standard of care (SOC) is effective at reducing organ damage accumulation and prolonging time to organ damage progression compared to SOC alone over 4 years,” a team led by Dr. Zahi Touma, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, concluded.

People with lupus are typically treated using a combination of inflammation-quelling meds like steroids, antimalarials, immunosuppressants and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, researchers said in background notes

But these drugs don't stop organ damage from lupus, and in some cases might even contribute to it, researchers said.

They decided to see if a newer drug, anifrolumab, might better help prevent organ damage if added to the existing brew used to treat lupus patients.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved anifrolumab in 2021 for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus, the most common form of lupus. 

Anifolumab Is a monoclonal antibody that works by blocking the receptors for type 1 interferon, a biochemical that plays a key role in promoting inflammation, researchers said.

It’s given once a month via an IV drip, according to Drugs.com.

For the trial, researchers compared 354 patients prescribed anifrolumab against 561 patients who received the usual care for lupus. All of these patients participated in the clinical trials that led to anifrolumab’s approval in the U.S.

Results showed that people taking anifrolumab scored about 0.43 points lower on an index tracking organ damage caused by lupus.

A 1-point increase in that index has previously been associated with a 34% increase in a lupus patient’s risk of premature death, researchers noted.

Anifrolumab patients also had a 61% lower risk of having their organ damage get worse, results show.

The study was paid for by AstraZeneca, which manufactures Saphnelo.

More information

The Lupus Foundation of America has more on organ damage caused by lupus.

SOURCE: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Feb. 1, 2025