Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
    Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • About MCN
  • Careers
  • MCNTalk
  • Contact Us

MCN | Medical Consultants Network

The Power of a Second Look

  • Services
    • Independent Medical Examinations
    • Medical Peer Reviews
    • Bill Review Services
    • Utilization Reviews
  • Expertise
    • Short and Long-Term Disability
    • Workers’ Compensation
    • Auto/PIP/Casualty/Liability
    • Independent Review Organization Services
  • For Clients
  • For Providers
  • Your Exam
    • About Your Exam
    • About Your External Review
    • Contact & Scheduling
  • Schedule Now
  • About MCN
  • MCNTalk
  • Careers
  • Contact Us

MCNTalk
News, Insights & Opinions

Home / MCNTalk / Gene Work Yields New Treatment For Lupus

March 21, 2011

Gene Work Yields New Treatment For Lupus

As noted in the Wall Street Journal, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first new drug for lupus in more than 50 years, a milestone in the effort to mine data from the human genome to discover and develop new medicines. This development is important for a variety of reasons which highlight various situations within the world of how illnesses are defined and treated. Specifically the article notes that:

  • There’s a huge range in the number of people suffering from Lupus, depending upon how the disease is defined: Estimates of how many Americans are affected range from 161,000 to 1.5 million.
  • One version of the drug entered clinical trials in 2000.  So little was known about how to evaluate a new lupus drug, however, that it took the company, outside experts and the FDA took a year to design clinical trials that would determine whether Benlysta helped patients or not.
  • Benlysta, the drug in question, is one of the first drugs discovered based on mapping of genomic data to make it through to FDA approval.
  • The price of the drug will be about $35,000 a year per patient, which the company said was in the range of other biologic therapies used to treat similar diseases.
  • Clinical studies also showed those receiving Benlysta suffered more deaths and serious infections compared with patients not on the drug. (Patients using Benlysta will receive a medication guide that will outline the risks associated with the product.)
  • Before Benlysta, the FDA last approved drugs to treat lupus in 1955.
  • Nine out of ten people with Lupus are women.

Read more…

47.608945-122.332015

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Print

Tagged: Clinical Issues, Health Policy, The Practice of Medicine Leave a Comment

Previous Post
Next Post

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • The Quality Divide: What Makes a Quality IME Physician?
  • The Quality Divide: Is Your Vendor Driving IME Excellence?
  • The Quality Divide: When and How to Request an IME?
  • April Clinic Calendars Are Available
  • MCN’s Client Portal Login Page is Changing

Archives

Footer


  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Quick Links

  • Services
  • Expertise
  • About MCN
  • Careers

Division Headquarters

MCN
1200 5th Ave., Ste. 650
Seattle, WA 98101

See all offices

Email Us

General Inquiries: info@mcn.com
Sales & Marketing: marketing@mcn.com

Call Us

206.343.6100
800.248.6269

© Copyright 2023 Mitchell International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap