Kidney international reports
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 (RTX) leads to complete or partial remission (CR or PR) in approximately 60% of patients with primary membranous nephropathy (PMN). Adding belimumab (BEL) to RTX may result in greater depletion of memory B cells, limit the reemergence 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 (≥ 4 g/d) and detectable serum anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R) antibodies. Participants received BEL 200 mg subcutaneously weekly for 52 weeks and RTX 1000 mg intravenously at weeks 4 and 6. Assessments included BEL exposure at week 4 and CR or PR at week 104.