Stacie Bell, PhD: Lupus Therapeutics and AbbVie to Join Forces for Promising Lupus Treatment Program

In an interview with HCPLive, Stacie Bell, PhD, executive vice president of Lupus Therapeutics, the clinical research affiliate of the Lupus Research Alliance, discussed the recent announcement of their partnership with AbbVie for the phase 3 clinical program of upadacitinib in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Lupus Therapeutics will help with study participant recruitment, engagement, and site activation through the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN) throughout North America.

Bell emphasized AbbVie has a strong reputation as a patient-focused research organization. Their recognition of the importance of involving North American experts in their lupus research led to this partnership, which aims to accelerate AbbVie’s program within this network, facilitating the study process and patient recruitment through their established relationships with these sites.

Bell and her team hope to see positive outcomes in the clinical trial, although the results will be determined through the evaluation process. AbbVie will collaborate with regulatory authorities to progress to the next development and approval stage. Ultimately, the study represents an opportunity to evaluate a new potential treatment option and potentially bring it to the patient community.

She explained for those living with lupus, having treatment options and hope is significant and essential. Therefore, any therapy like this which offers benefits to even a small subset of patients with lupus has the potential to bring meaningful advantages to the community. According to Bell, the key to advancing lupus care and the development of new treatments is collaboration and relationship building.

“We're all working toward the same goal, and the Lupus Research Alliance, along with Lupus Therapeutics, is here to facilitate these relationships and collaborations to expedite the development of treatment options for those living with lupus,” she concluded.

This transcript was edited for clarity.