The UK Musculoskeletal Translational Research Collaboration (MSK TRC) and the charity Versus Arthritis brought together the NIHR University College London Hospitals (UCLH), Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), in a collaboration to test a novel combination of biologics for systemic lupus erthematosus (SLE).
These companies led the BEAT-Lupus randomised control trial, that accelerated research into treatments for lupus patients. While this was a small study with only 52 patients, it was the first academic-led interventional double-blind trial completed in lupus in the UK for 20 years.
There is currently no cure for lupus, and many of the existing therapies have shown varying degrees of success, and are often associated with having numerous side effects. There is therefore high need and demand for new and innovative treatment options.
Professor Mike Ehrenstein, Principal Investigator of the BEAT-Lupus study, said: “We came up with the idea to give a combination of belimumab and rituximab to see if we could reduce the number of flares after using rituximab alone.
“It was crucial to involve all of the stakeholders to maximise our chances of meeting the recruitment targets and the UK MSK TRC was perfectly placed to support and coordinate with this. Ultimately, the strong collaborative approach across the UK MSK TRC sites, allowed us to reach our target.”
The UK MSK TRC provided these companies with the resource to support the coordination of the study, set up sites, and identify sub-sites. It was also crucial in publicising the trial, which included producing a video to recruit patients for the trial.
Professor Mike Ehrenstein, Principal Investigator of the BEAT-Lupus study, said: “The UK MSK TRC provides the interface between the strong academic input that multi-centre intervention studies require and an industry partner, in addition to ensuring the patient’s voice is heard, through the partnership with Versus Arthritis.”
