"Sorry, Lupus.
You aren't ruining my recipe today."
Not an actual patient
What is BENLYSTA?
BENLYSTA is a prescription medicine for patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) receiving other lupus medicines. Intravenous dosing of BENLYSTA is approved for patients 5 years and older, and subcutaneous dosing is only approved for adults. It is not known if BENLYSTA is safe and effective in people with severe active lupus nephritis or severe active central nervous system lupus.
Designed for lupus
BENLYSTA is the first and only approved biologic designed for lupus in 50 years. It has been prescribed in over 58,000 adult patients since it was approved by the FDA for adults in 2011.*
The IV formulation gained approval in 2019 for use in children 5 years and older.
* Source: Symphony Health, PayerSource, March 2011 to December 2018. Claims data based upon total unique number of patients who had at least one claim for BENLYSTA in the US only.
What kind of medicine is BENLYSTA?
BENLYSTA is a biologic therapy, not a steroid. It is taken in addition to your other lupus medications and is available to adult patients in three options and to children (ages 5 years and older) in one option:
an autoinjector you self-inject (for adults)
a prefilled syringe you self-inject (for adults)
an intravenous (IV) infusion a healthcare provider administers (for adults and children ≥5 years old)
The Benefits of BENLYSTA
Adult Patients
In studies used in the approval of BENLYSTA,* when added to other medicines commonly used to treat lupus, compared to other lupus medicines alone, BENLYSTA has demonstrated:
Superior reduction in disease activity
Mainly due to improvements in the immune system, muscles, mouth, joints and skin
Superior reduction in the chance of severe flares
Reduction in the chance of severe flares occurred in two of the three studies†
Reduction in steroid dose‡
By 25% or more (to a daily dose of 7.5 mg or less) during Weeks 40-52, in patients receiving 7.5 mg or higher daily doses of steroid at the start of the study
* BLISS-52, BLISS-76, and BLISS-SC.
† A superior reduction in the chance of severe flares did not occur in the BLISS-76 trial.
‡ A numerical reduction in daily steroid dose was observed, but this difference was not big enough for researchers to be sure that BENLYSTA was better than the placebo when added to patients’ current lupus medicine(s).
Your results may vary.
Pediatric Patients (5 years and above)
When added to other medicines commonly used to treat lupus, compared to those medicines alone, BENLYSTA IV has been observed to§:
Reduce lupus disease activity
Reduce the chance of severe flares
§Because lupus doesn’t occur in children very often, the pediatric study had a much smaller number of patients than the adult studies of BENLYSTA. The study in children was still able to support that BENLYSTA worked, with results similar to those from the adult studies. Due to the small size of the study, however, there was no way to confirm the effect or the consistency of the results.
Please note that these are findings based upon a study in pediatric patients.
Your child’s individual results may vary.
Learn about Benlysta
When we say that "BENLYSTA Cares", what does that really mean?
Whether you're just getting started on BENLYSTA or you've been taking it for a while, we offer resources created with you in mind.*
*Nurses from BENLYSTA Cares do not give medical advice. They are only able to answer questions about BENLYSTA. These may include help with self-injections, guidance for getting BENLYSTA, answers about the co-pay program, and other general information. They will direct you to your healthcare provider for answers to other types of questions.
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