In this Rheumatology Advisor podcast, HSS physician-in-chief emerita Mary K. Crow, MD, discussed the evolution of lupus treatments over the years, with a focus on the history, barriers in research, information regarding the anifrolumab approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, and the future of drug development in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Dr. Crow explained, “There are two main reasons for the challenges we’ve seen in lupus drug development. First relates to lupus itself as I think the most complex disease in all of medicine. There are many very complicated ways that the immune goes awry in lupus and it’s taken quite a while to understand those mechanisms at a level that has allowed target identification and rational drug development programs in this disease and we are making a lot of progress in that regard. The second reason relates to clinical trial design outcome measures where we’ve had a steep learning curve. A bit related to the heterogeneity and complexity of the disease with patients that present very different from one to another.”

Listen to the full episode at Rheumatologyadvisor.com.