Collaborative public-private partnerships accelerate personalized lupus treatments: LRA and FDA join forces with industry and researchers

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Recently, the Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have established a public-private partnership to boost cooperation and improve the development of individualized treatments for lupus.

Mr. Albert Roy, the President and CEO of LRA, has announced the Lupus Accelerating Breakthroughs Consortium (ABC) partnership, which aims to collaborate with patients with lupus, the U.S. FDA, other federal agencies, stakeholders and policymakers, industry, clinical researchers, and scientists to overcome scientific hurdles and advance the development of personalized treatments for lupus. Dr. Gary Koretzky, the Lupus ABC Research Committee co-chair, has stated that this partnership aims to improve the speed of developing new therapies and their accessibility to lupus patients. Personalized outcome metrics are required to better assess the efficacy of medicines in the pipeline.

The LRA has listed enhancing current research measuring techniques to better characterize a therapy’s benefits and emphasizing patient voices to enhance patient outcome measurements as the initial areas of interest. Dr. Teodora Staeva, the chief science officer of the LRA and the Lupus ABC coordinating lead to the FDA, has stated that the Lupus ABC arose from three important initiatives or influences: the urgent need to address long-standing obstacles to lupus medication development, the necessity to include the patient perspective in this process, and the lupus community’s ambition and commitment to providing safer and more effective treatment alternatives for patients with lupus.

According to Mr. Albert Roy, the FDA, the Lupus ABC, and other stakeholders will gather for the first meeting on April 16 and 17. The LRA has released a press release stating that Lupus ABC aims to address urgent, unmet lupus therapeutic needs and develop improved treatments and, eventually, a cure for lupus. Additionally, the direction and priorities of the effort will be determined by feedback from all partners.

Reference

  1. The Lupus research alliance unites the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) & Lupus Community to Launch Novel Public-Private Partnership. https://www.lupusresearch.org/lupus-research-alliance-unites-the-u-s-food-drug-administration-fda-lupus-community-to-launch-novel-public-private-partnership/. March 29, 2023.