Research in Brief

Abstract

Litifilimab, a humanised monoclonal antibody against blood dendritic cell antigen 2 (BDCA2), might be an effective treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In a phase 2 trial, Richard Furie and colleagues randomly assigned 132 participants with SLE to receive litifilimab 50 mg (n=6), 150 mg (n=6), or 450 mg (n=64), or placebo (n=56) subcutaneously at weeks 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. Among the 102 participants who received 450 mg litifilimab or placebo and who had at least four tender joints and at least four swollen joints at baseline, the least-squares mean change in the total number of active joints from baseline to week 24 (the primary outcome) was –15·0 (SD 1·2) on litifilimab versus –11·6 (1·3) on placebo (mean difference –3·4; 95% CI –6·7 to –0·2; p=0·04).