“Some aspects of this study were identified as potential limitations,” Dr. Doria and his colleagues wrote. “Within the hypocomplementemic and anti-dsDNA positive subset population, only 65.7% of patients received steroids greater than 7.5 mg/day at baseline; thus (as in the overall population), this endpoint was not powered for statistical significance. In addition, this study excluded patients with SELENA-SLEDAI less than 8, active nephritis, or active CNS disease at screening.”
The study was funded, conducted, and designed by GlaxoSmithKline. Five authors have shares in and are employees of GSK; another was an employee of GSK at the time of the study. Seven authors declared consulting fees, grants and other remuneration from pharmaceutical companies, including GSK.
SOURCE: Doria A et al. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018 Apr 18. doi: 10.1002/art.40511.