New Approach for Attacking Lupus Identified

NEW YORK CITY, Dec. 16, 2007– Investigators at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified two new targets for drugs aimed at controlling lupus. If companies are able to develop drugs that hone in on these targets, patients may be able to control their disease with few side effects. “The study identifies very good therapeutic targets, and what needs to be done is identify better candidate drugs,” said Lionel Ivashkiv, M.D., director of Basic Research at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. He led the study, which was published online in Nature Immunology on December 16 and will appear in print in February.