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Navigating Lupus Nephritis Pipeline Updates, with Sayna Norouzi, MD
Sayna Norouzi, MD, reflects on the recent progress in the therapeutic pipeline for lupus nephritis.
After years of dormancy, the therapeutic pipeline for lupus nephritis is heating up and appears to offer a level of promise with the potential to start address the unmet need within the disease state.
In the last 5 years, the field has welcomed newly approved agents in belimumab and voclosporin, but the goal of achieving complete renal response in these patients remains out of reach for many. However, the therapeutic pipeline for lupus nephritis is heating up and appears to offer a level of promise with the potential to start addressing the unmet need within the disease state.1,2
With multiple agents being examined in completed or ongoing clinical trial programs, nephrologists now look ahead with a renewed sense of optimism as options like obinutuzumab, anifrolumab, and ianalumab, which target B-cell depletion through anti-CD20, interferon alpha-beta receptor antagonism, and BAFF inhibition, respectively, as their mechanisms of action. Beyond these, several potential therapeutic options leveraging different mechanisms, including complement C3 inhibition, CAR-T, and more, are being investigated in phase 1 or 2 trials.1,2
Further evidence of the therapeutic pipeline progress within lupus nephritis could be seen at the 62nd European Renal Association (ERA 2025) Congress, where multiple studies examined the impact of these therapies, including an analyses of the phase 2 NOBILITY trial of obinutuzumab. In all, ERA 2025 featured 24 presentations and 62 total abstracts focused on lupus nephritis, potential therapies, impact on quality of life, and more.
To learn more about how the field is navigating these recent updates and the anticipation around agents in development, the editorial team of HCPLive Nephrology sat down with leading subject matter expert Sayna Norouzi, MD, director of the Glomerular Disease Clinic, Polycystic Kidney Disease Clinic, and GlomCon Glomerular Disease Fellowship Program at Loma Linda University Medical Center, on the floor at ERA 2025.
