Belimumab

PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA I June 24, 2025 I GSK plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a 200 mg/mL autoinjector of Benlysta (belimumab), a B-lymphocyte stimulator (BlyS)-specific inhibiting monoclonal antibody, for subcutaneous injection in patients five years of age and older with active lupus nephritis (LN) who are receiving standard therapy. With this approval, GSK is expanding choices for belimumabtreatment, offering pediatric lupus nephritis patients and caregivers a first-of-its-kind subcutaneous option that can be administered at home. The 200 mg/mL autoinjector was approved for pediatric patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in 2024. Lupus nephritis is one of the most serious complications of lupus and occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the kidneys, leading to inflammation and possibly to organ damage. About 30-50% of children with lupus develop LN, typically within one to two years after their initial lupus diagnosis. 1,2 Louise Vetter, President and Chief Executive Officer, Lupus Foundation of America said : “In children, lupus tends to be more aggressive and severe than it is in adults. The symptoms can be more intense, and the disease can have long-term effects on a child’s growth and quality of life. 1,2 Having the Benlysta autoinjector provides a much-needed option that can help reduce the burden of frequent clinic visits for treatment and add greater flexibility for children and their families when considering continuity of care and routines of daily life.” Court Horncastle, Senior Vice President, and Head of US Specialty, GSK said: “For children and parents of children with lupus nephritis, this approval represents a choice in their care. Providing this at-home treatment option with the efficacy and safety of Benlysta is a testament to our ongoing commitment to the lupus community. GSK is driven by the belief that our therapeutic solutions should always prioritize improving patients’ well-being and easing their treatment journey, including for younger patients.” Caregivers of children who are currently using intravenous infusions of belimumabto manage their LN can work with their child’s healthcare provider to decide if at-home administration via autoinjector is appropriate. If so, the healthcare provider will administer treatment or the healthcare provider will provide instructions to the patients’ caregiver that will allow them to administer the medicine at home via an autoinjector. The 200 mg/mL autoinjector of belimumabwill be available for pediatric patients and their caregivers immediately. About systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis (LN) Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the most common form of lupus, is a chronic, incurable, autoimmune disease associated with a range of symptoms that can fluctuate over time including painful or swollen joints, extreme fatigue, unexplained fever, skin rashes and organ damage. LN is a complication of SLE and occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the kidneys and leads to inflammation and potential organ damage. This inflammation can harm the kidney’s ability to remove waste from the blood. 1 LN can lead to end-stage kidney disease, which requires kidney dialysis or a transplant. Despite improvements in both diagnosis and treatment over the last few decades, LN remains an indicator of poor prognosis for people living with lupus. 3,4 Manifestations of LN include proteinuria, elevations in serum creatinine and the presence of red and white blood cells in the urine. About Benlysta Benlysta (belimumab) is a B-lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) specific inhibitor that binds to soluble BLyS. By binding BLyS, Benlysta inhibits the survival of B cells, including autoreactive B cells, and reduces the differentiation of B cells into immunoglobulin-producing plasma cells. Benlysta does not bind B cells directly. The US FDA first approved Benlysta for the treatment of active SLE; it is the first and only approved biologic for both SLE and LN in more than 50 years, including for the pediatric population. Please see the US Prescribing Information for BENLYSTA INDICATION BENLYSTA is indicated for patients aged ≥5 with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or active lupus nephritis who are receiving standard therapy. BENLYSTA is not recommended in patients with severe active central nervous system lupus. About GSK GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together. Find out more at gsk.com . 1 Lupus Foundation of America. Childhood Lupus. Available at https://www.lupus.org/our-work/childhood-lupus . Accessed June 2025. 2 Francesco Peyronel, Giovanni M Rossi, Giulia Palazzini, Ludovica Odone, Carmela Errichiello, Giacomo Emmi, Augusto Vaglio, Early-onset lupus nephritis, Clinical Kidney Journal, Volume 17, Issue 8, August 2024, sfae212, https://doi.org/10.1093/ckj/sfae212 . 3 National Kidney Foundation: Lupus Nephritis. Available at https://www.kidney.org/kidney-topics/lupus-nephritis . Accessed June 2025. 4 Hocaoǧlu M,, et al. Incidence, Prevalence, and Mortality of Lupus Nephritis: A Population-Based Study Over Four Decades Using the Lupus Midwest Network. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2023;75(4):567-573. doi:10.1002/art.42375. SOURCE: GlaxoSmithKline

Europe’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended marketing authorization for ExCellThera’s novel cell therapy Zemcelpro in certain blood cancer patients. In a first for the bloc, Europe’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended marketing authorization for a new type of stem cell transplant therapy for certain blood cancer patients. The marketing endorsement was awarded to ExCellThera’s Zemcelpro and covers a recommended approval in adults with blood cancers that require an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) following myeloablative conditioning for whom no other type of suitable donor cells is available.Zemcelpro contains stem cells from a donor’s umbilical cord blood, some of which have been grown and multiplied, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a press release on the decision. By boosting the number of cells, Zemcelpro makes the stem cells from a small cord blood unit more effective, the European regulator explained. For several blood cancers—including leukemias, which are detected in the blood; lymphomas, which are found in the lymph nodes; and myelodysplastic syndrome and myelomas, which are diagnosed in the bone marrow—the only current curative treatment option is allogeneic HSCT. This type of transplant involves using donated stem cells to replace the patient’s bone marrow cells to form new marrow that produces healthy blood cells. The CHMP based its Zemcelpro recommendation on pooled analysis of two single-arm trials that included 25 patients. The studies found that 84% of patients who received Zemcelpro achieved neutrophil engraftment, when donor stem cells establish themselves in the recipient’s bone marrow and produce the white blood cells known as neutrophils within a median span of 20 days.Some 10,000 new blood cancer cases requiring bone marrow transplant crop up in Europe each year, ExCellThera estimates. Many of these patients do not have access to suitable donor cells largely because of the unavailability of matched donors, the company explained. ExCellThera said it expects to gain marketing authorization from the EMA in roughly two months' time. After winning an endorsement from the CHMP, prospective medicines must go before the European Commission for a final approval verdict.ExCellThera also plans to file for approval of Zemcelpro in the U.S., U.K. and other countries. Madrigal’s Rezdiffra among others gaining CHMP nodsThe committee has also given a thumbs up to Madrigal’s Rezdiffra for the treatment of adults with noncirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a disease where fat cells accumulate in the liver causing chronic inflammation. If the drug gains marketing authorization, it would become the first treatment in the EU for the condition. Fifteen months ago, Rezdiffra became the first drug approved for MASH in the U.S. Also making the grade this month was Teva blockbuster Austedo for patients with moderate-to-severe tardive dyskinesia. The FDA approved the treatment in the indication eight years ago. Tardive dyskinesia is an irreversible movement disorder characterized by repetitive and uncontrollable movements of the tongue, lips, face, trunk and extremities and can be caused by medications used to treat mental health or gastrointestinal conditions.Meanwhile, Pfizer spinout SpringWorks Therapeutics has picked up a CHMP nod for Ogsiveo in adults with progressing desmoid tumors, which are marked by noncancerous soft tissue growths in the limbs and abdomen that often cause severe pain and disfigurement. The FDA approved Ogsiveo in the same indication in 2023.Also gaining a positive recommendation from the CHMP was Partner Therapeutics’ Imreplys for the treatment of patients exposed to myelosuppressive doses of radiation with hematopoietic sub-syndrome of acute radiation syndrome. The medicine is known as Leukine in the U.S. where it was approved in 2018. CHMP signs off on label expansions for 6 drugsAside from new approval recommendations, the CHMP has also endorsed labeled expansions for a half-dozen established medicines. The committee gave a thumbs up to Ipsen’s Cabometyx as a second-line treatment for patients with unresectable or metastatic, well differentiated extra-pancreatic (epNET) and pancreatic (pNET) neuroendocrine tumors. The FDA signed off Cabometyx in the indication three months ago. The treatment, which has been on the market since 2016, brought home sales of $1.8 billion last year.Also winning CHMP recommendations were Johnson & Johnson blockbusters Darzalex, for smoldering multiple myeloma, and Imbruvica, for patients with previously treated mantle cell lymphoma who would be eligible for autologous stem cell transplant. AbbVie partners with J&J on Imbruvica.The committee further signed off on expansions for GSK’s lupus treatment Benlysta, Bayer’s prostate cancer drug Nubeqa and Sanofi’s multiple myeloma medicine Sarclisa. CHMP opens re-examination of Lilly’s KisunlaElsewhere, fifteen months after giving a thumbs down to Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s disease treatment Kisunla in March of last year, the CHMP will give the medication a second look. The regulator said that it re-opened its examination of Kisunla on June 2. The FDA signed off on Kisunla in July of last year, opening up competition with Eisai and Biogen’s Alzheimer's rival Leqembi.