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Belimumab with rituximab for the treatment of primary membranous nephropathy
By Chung SA, Stelzig L, Sherman MA and 15 others.
Abstract
Introduction
B cell depletion with rituximab leads to complete or partial remission (CR/PR) in only ∼60% of patients with primary membranous nephropathy (PMN). Adding belimumab to rituximab may result in greater depletion of memory B cells, limit the re-emergence of autoreactive B cells, and improve clinical responses.
Methods
REBOOT Part A ( NCT03949855 ) is a single arm, open-label, pharmacokinetic study where all participants had proteinuria ≥ 4g/day and detectable serum anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R) antibodies. Participants received belimumab 200 mg subcutaneously weekly for 52 weeks and rituximab 1000 mg intravenously at weeks 4 and 6. Assessments included belimumab exposure at week 4 and CR/PR at week 104.