medwireNews: Findings from a phase Ib trial suggest that AMG 557 – an antibody directed against the inducible T-cell costimulator ligand (ICOSL) – may be a potential treatment option for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
James Chung (Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, California, USA) and colleagues report that the incidence of adverse events (AEs) at 169 days of follow-up was comparable between the 10 patients with SLE and lupus arthritis who were randomly assigned to receive AMG 557 and their 10 counterparts given placebo. Three patients in the AMG 557 group experienced grade 3 AEs, compared with one patient in the placebo group.
A numerically higher proportion of patients given AMG 557 versus placebo met Lupus Arthritis Responder Index (LARI) criteria at 169 days, with corresponding rates of 30% and 10%, and those in the active treatment group experienced greater improvements in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index and British Isles Lupus Assessment Group scores over the study period.
“[R]esults from this small study support further evaluation of ICOSL blockade with AMG 557 as a potential therapeutic option for patients with SLE,” write the investigators in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
Patients were given AMG 557 at a loading dose of 210 mg once weekly for 3 weeks, followed by 210 mg every other week for the remainder of the study.
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