First new treatment for lupus in more than 50 years

Bemimulab has recently been approved by the US Federal Drug Administration as the first new treatment for lupus in more than 50 years.

Professor Fabienne Mackay will describe its journey from the bench to the bedside at the Australian Academy of Science’s Australia-France Biomedical Research Symposium today at 10.15 am.

“Elevated levels of a B-cell activation factor called BAFF have been detected in the serum of patients with various autoimmune conditions like lupus, “she explains.

Lupus is an autoimmune inflammatory disease affecting about five million people worldwide that attacks the body destroying healthy tissues.

“Bemimulab, a therapeutic antibody inhibiting BAFF, has demonstrated in clinical trials its ability to reduce symptoms in lupus patients.”

Professor Mackay is part of a packed line-up of leaders in biomedical research who will present their work over two days at the Showcasing excellence in biomedical research Australia-France symposium at the Shine Dome in Canberra

Other speakers on day one include:

• Professor Alan Cowman from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne: combating the global scourge of malaria in the genomic era at 9.15am
• Professor Fabienne Mackay from Monash University: a new treatment for lupus at 10.15am.
• Professor Colin Masters from Australia’s Mental Health Research Institute: strategies for diagnosis and therapy of Alzheimer’s disease at 3.35pm.