A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Belimumab Administered in Combination With Rituximab to Adult Subjects With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) - BLISS-BELIEVE

Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess whether co-administration of belimumab and a single cycle of rituximab will optimize treatment with belimumab, which will result in improvements of clinical status with a favorable safety profile, by comparing subjects randomized to belimumab plus rituximab versus belimumab plus rituximab-placebo. Approximately 292 subjects will be randomized in a 1:2:1 ratio to 1 of 3 treatment arms; belimumab plus rituximab-placebo (Arm A, control), belimumab plus rituximab (Arm B, combination), or belimumab plus standard therapy (Arm C, reference). Belimumab will be administered as subcutaneous (SC) and rituximab-placebo or rituximab will be administered by intravenous (IV) infusions. The total duration of the study is for 104 weeks.

Timeline

Start

2018-03-01

Primary completion

2020-05-29

Completion

2021-07-07

Publications

• Background Aranow C, Allaart CF, Amoura Z, Bruce IN, Cagnoli PC, Chatham WW, Clark KL, Furie R, Groark J, Urowitz MB, van Vollenhoven R, Daniels M, Fox NL, Gregan YI, Henderson RB, van Maurik A, Ocran-Appiah JC, Oldham M, Roth DA, Shanahan D, Tak PP, Teng YO. Efficacy and safety of sequential therapy with subcutaneous belimumab and one cycle of rituximab in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: the phase 3, randomised, placebo-controlled BLISS-BELIEVE study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2024 Oct 21;83(11):1502-1512. doi: 10.1136/ard-2024-225686.
• Arends EJ, Zlei M, Tipton CM, Cotic J, Osmani Z, de Bie FJ, Kamerling SWA, van Maurik A, Dimelow R, Gregan YI, Fox NL, Rabelink TJ, Roth DA, Sanz I, van Dongen JJM, van Kooten C, Teng YKO. Disruption of memory B-cell trafficking by belimumab in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2024 Sep 1;63(9):2387-2398. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keae286.
• Hannon CW, McCourt C, Lima HC, Chen S, Bennett C. Interventions for cutaneous disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Mar 9;3(3):CD007478. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007478.pub2.
• Teng YKO, Bruce IN, Diamond B, Furie RA, van Vollenhoven RF, Gordon D, Groark J, Henderson RB, Oldham M, Tak PP. Phase III, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 104-week study of subcutaneous belimumab administered in combination with rituximab in adults with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): BLISS-BELIEVE study protocol. BMJ Open. 2019 Mar 20;9(3):e025687. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025687.
• Parodis I, Lopez Benavides AH, Zickert A, Pettersson S, Moller S, Welin Henriksson E, Voss A, Gunnarsson I. The Impact of Belimumab and Rituximab on Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2019 Jun;71(6):811-821. doi: 10.1002/acr.23718.

Drugs

Indications