[ Music ]
>> I'm Peggy Crow.
I'm a rheumatologist and researcher here at Hospital for Special Surgery.
I've been here at HSS for many, many years, and would never work anyplace else.
I've had many roles but always prioritize my research studies.
We are very engaged and interested
in understanding the underlying reasons why patients get some
of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
One of the most gratifying parts of the interferon story for us came when,
in August 2021, the US FDA approved one of the drugs that's been tested in patients with lupus
and inhibits the interferon pathway.
So this drug is a monoclonal antibody that binds to the receptor on cells for type I interferon
and gets in the way of interferon interacting with the cell and therefore blocks all
of the downstream effects of interferon and many of the effects of interferon
on the immune system in lupus patients.
So we are just starting to use this drug in our patients here at HSS.
And, you know, as many know, it's been frustrating to identify
and have available really good therapies for patients with lupus.
It's been frustrating to see a number
of clinical trials not be successful for this disease.
So it's great to have a new drug.
And it's going to be really interesting to see how well it works in our patients.
Now, there are so many drugs being tested.
We have some successes, and a number
of those agents being tested do target the interferon pathway,
whether it's through inhibiting production of interferon, blocking its effects
on target cells, blocking the receptor, or blocking what happens
after the receptor sees interferon with the goal
of improving the way the immune system functions.
One of the really nice aspects of our focus on interferon is
that we've not only been investigating the activation of this pathway in patients
in the lab and understanding why interferon is produced, but we've also been very involved
in the testing of drugs to target the interferon pathway.
So my colleague, Dr. Kirou, Kyriakos Kirou, who I've worked together with for many years,
was one of the investigators on the clinical trial, testing the efficacy of the drug
that blocks the interferon receptor.
>> My name is Kyriakos Kirou.
I'm a rheumatologist and physician-scientist here at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
My special interest is lupus and lupus nephritis patients.
I'm also an investigator, principal investigator for many clinical trials that happen in lupus.
I also work closely with basic science investigators such as Dr. Crow.
The anifrolumab phase III studies were two big studies
that included 400 patient seats approximately.
These patients have active lupus, and they were taking already standard of care medication
such as prednisone, hydroxychloroquine, and other antimalarials
or other immunosuppressive drugs.
And despite that, they had active disease.
So they were randomized to receive either the anifrolumab or placebo on top
of their standard of care treatment.
And in the end, after a year of getting IV treatments every month,
there was a big difference between the people who received anifrolumab versus the placebo.
The approval of anifrolumab by the FDA in July of this year was a major advance
for the care of our lupus patients.
We have a new drug now that we can use for patients that do not respond to our standard
of care treatments including steroids, mycophenolate, and other drugs.
We hope by having this drug to help patients reduce these steroids
because we know steroids are bad.
We also are particularly enthusiastic about getting our patients better with regard
to many manifestations but especially about their skin disease.
So this drug saw a lot of promise in curing or improving lupus skin disease.
For somebody to get the best care, they have to come to a center like HSS
where we can have a comprehensive care.
So that will include physicians like myself, rheumatologist and we have many of them here
in the Lupus and APS Center of Excellence, but also other subspecialties,
including dermatologist, nephrologist, neurologist, renal pathologist,
and indeed we work very close together with NewYork-Presbyterian Cornell Hospital.
We work closely, we have conferences together, and we discuss the most difficult cases.
And again, there's a connection here between research in lupus and clinical care of lupus.
Wherever there is good academic work,
you will find also the best care, clinical care for our patients.
So that makes HSS very strong.