New Research Gives Insight for Improving Future Lupus Clinical Trials

Lupus Foundation of America Study Reveals Some Background Medications May Have an Effect on Trial Outcomes 

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new study that analyzed lupus treatment data from past global clinical trials suggests that when testing new drugs in combination with other background therapies, clinical trials should be designed to account for the effects that initial disease activity and background drug treatment have been shown to have on planned endpoints, like response and flare rates. The analysis was conducted by the Lupus Foundation of America to improve the design of future lupus clinical trials in order to secure a full arsenal of new treatments for lupus, an unpredictable and potentially fatal disease that affects millions of people worldwide. 

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The data was presented today at the American College of Rhematology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego by Dr. Kenneth Kalunian, associate director of the Center for Innovative Therapy (CIT) at the University of California San Diego. Dr. Kalunian chairs the Lupus Foundation of America's Collective Data Analysis Initiative (CDAI). In 2011 this initiative formed the Standard of Care in Clinical Investigational Trials Program (SOCCIT) to better understand the effect of standard of care treatments in lupus clinical trials.

An earlier analysis of the SOCCIT program, presented by Dr. Kalunian in 2011, revealed that the background drug mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was associated with improvement in health status.  This new analysis, however, shows that participants on MMF entered the trial with higher measures of baseline disease activity. Individuals with higher baseline scores were more likely to experience flares during the trial, possibly because they were sicker when entering the trial. This may confound trial results and make it more difficult to prove that a potential new treatment for lupus is effective.  

Additional data analysis will provide further insight that may help future lupus clinical trial sponsors determine which patients to include in studies, the specific endpoints to be measured, and which background medications will provide a more reliable and accurate evaluation of the investigational drug's effectiveness.

For this new study, investigators used data obtained from six multicenter phase 2 or phase 3 lupus clinical trials involving 933 individuals with systemic lupus, who were receiving standard-of-care (SOC) but no investigational agents.  The analysis revealed that, as a group, people with lupus who entered clinical trials on the background drug mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) tended to have more flares overall (an increase in lupus disease activity) and more severe flares, than participants who were on other standard-of-care therapies. The analysis also showed that participants on MMF had greater disease activity scores when they entered the study, suggesting that treatment with MMF might define a sicker subset of patients.

In the past two decades, more than a dozen lupus investigational drugs have failed to meet their endpoints despite promising evidence from earlier studies in animal models and  smaller trials involving humans. In response, the Foundation launched the Lupus Foundation of America Collective Data Analysis Initiative (LFA-CDAI), the first study to examine the effects of background therapies on the results of lupus clinical trials.

"Sponsors of trials to test the effectiveness of potential new treatments for lupus, need to take into consideration the effects MMF and other background therapies may have on the results and factor that impact into the planned endpoints, based on the demonstrated effects of MMF on response and flare rates," said Ken Kalunian, MD.

The SOCCIT Program represents an important step in removing barriers to obtain approval of new, more tolerable and effective lupus treatments.  Future analysis will look at other background therapies as well as their impact on specific organs.  

About Lupus

Lupus is an unpredictable and misunderstood autoimmune disease that ravages different parts of the body.  It is difficult to diagnose, hard to live with and a challenge to treat.  Lupus is a cruel mystery because it is hidden from view and undefined, has a range of symptoms, strikes without warning, and has no known cause and no known cure.  Its health effects can range from a skin rash to a heart attack.  Lupus is debilitating and destructive and can be fatal, yet research on lupus has not kept pace with research for other diseases of similar scope and devastation. 

About the Lupus Foundation of America

The Lupus Foundation of America is the only national force devoted to solving the mystery of lupus, one of the world's cruelest, most unpredictable and devastating diseases, while giving caring support to those who suffer from its brutal impact. Through a comprehensive program of research, education, and advocacy, the Foundation leads the fight to improve the quality of life for all people affected by lupus. Learn more about the Lupus Foundation of America at lupus.org. For the latest news and updates, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE Lupus Foundation of America