title: Challenges in bringing the bench to bedside in drug development for SLE.
abstract: It is now widely accepted that the current standard of care for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients is inadequate. There has not been a new medication approved for this disease in thirty years. Attempts to develop and test new drugs have been ongoing since the mid-1990s, but have encountered formidable obstacles. Current models for lupus pathogenesis have provided a theoretical framework for understanding how heterogeneous genetic defects might combine in various ways to increase susceptibility to SLE in different individuals, and could have important implications for new drug development. With the current burst of drug discovery and increased public awareness of SLE, the impetus to overcome these obstacles has never been greater.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 Northeast 13th Street Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA.
authors.forename: Joan T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Merrill
authors.forename: Doruk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Erkan
authors.forename: Jill P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Buyon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015195:Drug Design; D015507:Drugs, Investigational / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015507:Drugs, Investigational